Lightning among the Stars
by Leonineus
Summary: Following a betrayal and attack, Harry and Hermione fall through the Veil of Death and end up... somewhere else entirely. The galaxy will never be the same... Written with permission of stargatesg1fan1, whose fic Beginning a New Path this is based off of; link to the uncensored version is on my profile!
1. Prologue: Falling into Destiny

Lightning among the Stars

**(A/N: Okay, so this is written as a sort of B-side to stargatesg1fan1's fic Beginning a New Path, since he has no intention of going into anime or game universes. Won't begin the same for obvious reasons (namely a Muse annoyingly picky about writing my own shit as much as possible), but it'll go a similar way; namely lots of hot females eventually warming Harry's bed, including fem!Shep. Enjoy!)**

Prologue: Falling Into Destiny

Harry Potter yawned widely as he progressed down into the Death Chamber within the Department of Mysteries. It was now a year on since the fall of Voldemort, and Harry had since taken a job as an Unspeakable.

He had originally married Ginny about four months after the end of the war, but she had begun exploiting her newfound fame as the Boy-Who-Won's wife to get absolutely anything she wanted, sleeping around and acting like she was superior to everyone else. Not only that, but when he broached the topic of children she refused on the grounds that it would jeopardize her Quidditch career. As far as Harry was concerned, that ended it. He and Ginny had confided a lot in each other, not least his desire to eventually have a family, and she had thrown that back in his face.

The resultant argument and following divorce had divided the Weasley family down the middle. George, Bill, Charlie and Arthur sided with Harry along with Hermione. Molly, Ron and Percy had sided with Ginny, and after Ron made the rather erroneous claim that his status as Hermione's fiancé meant that he could order her to side with him, she broke off their engagement by inserting her engagement ring into his ass.

The whole thing had worked out alright, at least for those not on Ginny's side. When the news of Harry's and Ginny's divorce and the reason came out to the public, Molly lost access to the prominent social circles she had enjoyed access to after her defeat of Bellatrix. Ron and Ginny were kicked off the Chudley Cannons and Holyhead Harpies respectively and Percy lost his job as head of International Magical Cooperation. All four were shunned, especially Ginny, and Arthur ended up divorcing Molly.

He had overridden Harry's attempts at apologizing for tearing apart his family, stating that things had been a little rocky ever since Fred's death anyway, but had been unable to dissuade Harry from giving him enough money to keep himself comfortable. It helped that when the divorce story aired, Harry had given a personal interview making sure that Arthur, Bill, Charlie and George were untouched by the scandal.

Harry and Hermione had moved in together after the whole travesty finished, only to be contacted a few months later by Algernon Croaker and recruited into the Department of Mysteries.

That led them to where they were now; working together on researching the Veil of Death. It had taken a long time for Harry to even approach it without being overwhelmed with memories of Sirius falling through, but Hermione's influence had been instrumental in helping him get through it. Their relationship had only strengthened (if that were possible) after that.

-LatS-

Hermione was already seated beside the Veil, waving her wand towards the stone arch and dictating to a charmed quill and notepad at the same time. Harry allowed himself a moment to marvel at her multi-tasking capabilities before striding towards her.

Hermione turned her head and smiled when she saw her colleague and closer-than-friend approaching, "Hi Harry,"

Harry tutted at her as he crouched beside her, "Hermione, have you actually slept yet? Because if I recall correctly I left before you last night."

Hermione gave a nervous chuckle, "Hehe, I _may_ have lost track of time a little bit…"

Harry sighed and allowed the brunette to lean against his shoulder, "You lie down for a nap. I'll handle today's scans while you rest."

Hermione opened her mouth, "But Harry…"

He cut her off by raising his right hand and giving her a gentle poke in the forehead with the Elder Wand, "Somnum," (Sleep)

Hermione instantly slumped against him as the spell took effect. Again, Harry allowed himself a moment to grin at the capabilities of the Elder Wand before conjuring a comfortable mattress and lifting Hermione onto it. It was really handy having such a powerful wand; he didn't even need conventional incantations now. All he had to do was say a word, most of the time.

As soon as the brunette was settled, Harry turned back to the Veil and closed his eyes. Raising the Elder Wand, he set to work, allowing the magic of the Veil to flow over and around his body as he began analyzing it.

Dimly, he registered another presence entering the chamber in the distance but passed it off as Croaker checking in on them as he continued to focus on the Veil. After a second he glanced down at Hermione and smirked, only to lose the smirk a moment later as the presence moved close enough to recognize as a specific person. "I sense something," he said in a deadpan voice, "A presence I've not felt since…"

A sudden upsurge of magic told him that whoever it was did not want to have a friendly chat, so he whirled on the spot and literally smacked the Disarming Charm aside with the flat of his hand. Glaring at the caster, he spoke, "Hello, Ron."

The youngest Weasley male looked in a bad way. His hair was scraggly and unkempt, his chin and cheeks covered in stubble and there were dark shadows under his eyes. "Potter," he snarled, "I've come to get you for ruining my life."

Harry looked impassively at him, "You ruined your own life Ron. I did nothing. We were friends; I'd have been happy to give you enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life, but there's only so many times I can forgive you before I start thinking you're irredeemable."

"You're the one who's irredeemable, Potter!" yelled Ron, "I was right about you in our second year; you _are_ turning into a Dark Wizard!"

"I haven't been able to speak Parseltongue in well over a year, Ron. You know that."

"Does that matter?" He noticed Hermione on the floor, "So this is it, huh? You divorce my sister so you can play with that whore instead?"

Harry's eyes darkened and a visible aura of magic formed around him, "Don't call Hermione a whore. She's an infinitely better person than _you_ or your sister. Your sister is the _real_ whore here."

Ron's face purpled, "How dare…"

"Vows at the altar," Harry cut him off with a scornful laugh, "As if. You know what happened, Ron? We went on our honeymoon, and four days after we returned I walked in on her with McLaggen. _McLaggen_, for crying out loud!"

On the floor, Hermione stirred. She blearily opened her eyes and immediately glared up at Harry, "Harry! I've told you before; don't use sleep spells on me when there's work to be done!" She sat up, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles like a small child, and then she noticed Ron, "Oh. It's _you_."

Ron sneered at her, then turned back to Harry, "Well, I'm here to teach you a lesson! Fernunculus!"

The Pimple Jinx shot towards Harry and Hermione, the former simply blocking it with a swipe of his wand.

Hermione yelled, "Stupefy!" and forced Ron to block before returning fire.

Harry shielded Hermione as he jabbed his wand forwards, "Percutere!" (Strike)

A blast of lightning shot from the tip of his wand and past Ron's ear as he ducked, taking a huge chunk out of a bench behind him. "Confringo!" Ron bellowed, jabbing his wand at Harry, who blocked again.

"Immobulus!" Hermione cried, but Ron deflected the spell so she followed it up with "Avis! Oppugno!"

"Anteoculatia!" Harry called as the bird swarm hurtled at Ron and were destroyed by an _Incendio_, causing a pair of large antlers to appear on Ron's head, momentarily knocking him offbalance.

"Aguamenti! Glacius!" Hermione yelled.

"Protego!" Ron responded, sending the rapidly forming spray of ice off to either side of him.

"Mucus ad Nauseum!" Harry cast, but Ron was able to avoid the Curse of the Bogies before it could hit him.

"GIVE UP!" Harry roared at Ron, "You can't beat us, Ron! You're already in enough trouble for attacking two Ministry employees!"

Ron didn't even respond; his next spell did the talking for him, "Avada Kedavra!"

The green jet went straight through Harry's shield and, almost in slow motion, hit him squarely in the chest.

-LatS-

Algernon Croaker, sitting in his office, looked up from his paperwork as an alarm blared. Checking the enchanted map of the Department on the wall, he saw that the Death Chamber was lit up. Slamming his fist onto the emergency button, he sped around the desk and took off down the corridor.

-LatS-

Ron's victorious smirk faded as he saw that Harry was still on his feet and now looked even more pissed off. "Did you think, even for a _second,_ that that would stop the _Master of Death_, Weasley?" Harry snarled, his eyes behind his glasses (now no longer needed, he just wore them because he was used to them) flashing as green as the curse that had just hit him.

Ron stared as Harry brought up his wand, "CAPIENDUM!" (Capture)

Tree roots exploded through the stone under Ron's feet, securing his feet in position.

"Now," said Harry, twitching his wand so that another root sprang up to catch Ron's wand arm, "We'll talk until the Aurors get down here."

"No talk!" Ron roared, "Maybe I can't kill _you_, but I can at least kill the _whore_!" He threw his wand from his right hand to his left and levelled it at Hermione, who Harry realized was standing directly in front of the Veil, "EXPULSO!"

The ground in front of Hermione exploded, blasting her backwards towards the Veil. The world seemed to enter slow motion as Harry dived into Hermione's path, but her momentum was too great. She crashed into his torso… and both of them fell through the archway.

-LatS-

Croaker and the Unspeakables following him burst into the Death Chamber a moment too late. The cry of "EXPULSO!" drew their attention, but they were too slow to do more than watch as Harry Potter attempted to catch Hermione Granger. They passed through the Veil of Death and vanished from sight.

-LatS-

Ron was sent crashing to the floor under the weight of more than a dozen consecutive spells as Croaker strode past him towards the Veil. Was it his imagination… or was there a light behind the Veil?

His question was answered a second later as the Veil suddenly lit up like a match in a fireworks warehouse, sending him stumbling backwards as a figure strode straight through the ragged curtain.

It was unmistakeably Harry Potter… but not in any physical form. His body seemed to be made up of magic; pure, undiluted magic. "Mr… Potter?"

Harry looked down at his body in mild fascination, **"Huh, that's kinda cool. Shame Hermione couldn't do this, she'd love to see what she could do."**

"How…" Croaker whispered, "How is this possible?"

**"Hell if I know," **responded the wizard-turned-magical-construct, **"But I guess… no."**

"What?"

**"Umm… yeah, I may have neglected to mention that I had the Deathly Hallows on me when you recruited us? From the feel of it, I would surmise that the magical paradox caused by the Master of Death dying by passage through the _Veil_ of Death caused all three Hallows to fuse into me. Hmm… I was touching Hermione when we went through, I wonder if she got any too?"**

He fixed his attention on Croaker, **"Anyway, I guess this is goodbye." **He held out a hand.

Croaker hesitated for a second before taking it; he felt his thinning hair stand on end at the odd magical charge that passed through his arm from the contact, "It's been an honour, Mr Potter. I regret we could not work together longer; you and Miss Granger have been a great help to the Unspeakables."

Harry grinned, **"Likewise, Mr Croaker. If I may ask a favour, one colleague to another?"**

"Of course."

Harry pointed at the immobile Weasley on the floor, or tried to; his hand had disappeared, **"Tsk, appears this doesn't last long. Now, the favour; kindly make sure that that… _person_… is prosecuted to the full extent of the law."**

Croaker nodded, "Of course."

**"But not the death penalty, if you can avoid it. I hear the goblins have ways of making sure that those under their _care_ last through the full extent of their sentence. If you can, tell Griphook that Harry Potter sends his regards with the gift of a guy to shovel dragon dung out of the tunnels."**

Croaker nodded, "Understood. Farewell, Mr Potter. Give my regards to your family, and make sure you tell them how brave their son was!"

Harry chuckled, **"I will. Farewell. Oh and Weasley? Try to avoid dying for as long as possible if you know what's good for you; I'll be waiting on the other side with a cricket bat full of nails."**

He stepped backwards, and vanished behind the Veil.

**(A/N: And so it begins. Yes, I know, it's yet another fic that will probably get some way and then grind to a dead halt like the rest. I hate my Muse, I swear when she eventually comes back I _am_ going to chain her to the wall. For the readers of my other fics… Jutsu started moving again; Sage actually began a new chapter; Reign and ROOT haven't been started yet, Maelstrom is now officially on hiatus pending a massive overhaul and rewrite, and the first rewritten chapter of Blade… well let's just sidle around that topic. I _am_ sorry for my long absence, there is no excuse I can make. College, Skyrim and Mass Effect 3, a new manga-drawing hobby… there are far too few hours in the day, I swear. Oh well. Until next time folks, Leonineus OUT!)**


	2. C1: Two Humans, Shaken not Stirred

Lightning among the Stars

Chapter One: Two Humans, Shaken not Stirred

**(A/N: Sorry this took a while but hey, the word count speaks for itself. Let the story commence!)**

"Oof!" Hermione grunted as she landed on her back on something hard and metallic with a loud crash.

Lying there with her back aching, Hermione looked around. She was in a squalid alley between two buildings, the ceiling or sky above obscured by greenish smog not unlike what she remembered Mundungus' pipe producing. Harry was nowhere to be seen, so she rolled herself off the bin on which she had landed (as evidenced by the Hermione-shaped dent in the lid) and looked around before calling, "Harry!"

The bin shuddered violently almost in response, before the lid flew up and Harry emerged, coughing and covered from head to toe in something that smelt like four-week-old cat food mixed with used nappies. Hermione wrinkled her nose, then the full aroma of the bin hit her and she gagged. Harry smelt almost _pleasant_ by comparison.

Harry shuffled forwards and tipped the bin over, rolling out amid a landslide of assorted refuse. Hermione reached for her wand, but was surprised to discover that it was gone. "Don't bother," Harry coughed. He appeared to have lost his glasses somewhere in the dumpster, "Going through the Veil made us assimilate our wands. I'd hazard a guess that we're capable of wandless spells now."

Hermione frowned and concentrated. Finally she said, "Evanesco," and all the garbage vanished, along with the stench emanating from Harry.

"Oh, thank god," Harry said, removing his hand from his nose.

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but before she could a harsh voice drew their attention, "Tsss! Humans! And they look… tasty!"

Harry and Hermione both turned to see a group of _creatures_ looking at them from someway down the alley. Their skin was odd, almost blistered-looking, and they had prominent jaws filled with sharp shark-like teeth. Their eyes were red and bulging, and their hands were clawed and covered with filth. Neither knew what these creatures were, nor were they keen to find out.

The creatures eyed Harry and Hermione before one hissed, "You're right, they _do _look tasty… let's get them!" They started forwards.

Harry moved between Hermione and the creatures, his arms lit up with a blue glow and he made a single angry motion with his hands.

-LatS-

Captain Preitor Gavorn was out on one of his regular vorcha patrols down one of Omega's seedier avenues when an immense blue flash lit up an alley on his left. As he ducked into cover behind a stack of crates, no fewer than six vorcha hurtled out of the alley, screaming their heads off with terror before they collided with the opposite wall and fell to the ground, a series of preceding cracks telling him all of them had died on impact.

Gavorn slipped out from behind the crates and looked into the alley. Two humans stood some way down in front of an overturned skip, one of them taller than the other and still in a ready stance with blue energy swirling about his limbs. The look of shock on his face told Gavorn he had been the source of the biotic strike, but that he had not been expecting its strength.

"You two," Gavorn said, levelling his sniper rifle at them. At this range, he wouldn't need his scope. "Are you responsible for those vorcha dying?"

-LatS-

Harry frowned, "What did you say? I can't understand you."

The dinosaur-like creature spoke again, but still in the same language.

Harry sighed, "I… don't… understand… you." He began trying to launch a passive Legilimency probe towards the creature but couldn't quite find anything out. Its mind was so _alien_ that he couldn't gain any purchase, so to speak. All he could pick out was a loyalty to someone named "Aria".

A few more attempts to communicate were made before the unfamiliar creature gave up and activated some kind of gauntlet around his arm. Typing on it as though it were a keyboard, he held it out towards them.

A robotic voice issued from the device, and mercifully it was in a language they could understand, _**"**__**Où avez-**__**vous deux **__**viennent, et **__**comment avez-voussur **__**cette station**__**?" **_(Who are you two, and how did you get onto this station?)

Well, at least Hermione could understand what was said. She replied in kind, **"****Nous sommes ****d'Angleterre****. ****Je crains que mon ****amine parle pas français****, pouvez-vous ****s'il vous plaît changement ****à l'anglais****?" **(We are from England. I'm afraid my friend does not speak French, can you please change to English?)

The person nodded before tapping on his gauntlet and holding it out again, **"Is this better?"**

Hermione nodded and smiled, "Yes, it is. Thank you. Now, if I may ask what are you?"

The creature looked at them curiously, **"Don't you know? I'm a turian! My name is Preitor Gavorn."**

"Well," Harry interjected, "I'm afraid neither of us has ever encountered a "turian" before, so…"

"**You haven't met a turian before? Have you been living under a rock or something; your kind has been travelling among the stars for the past twenty years!"**

"We have?" Hermione asked, "But… as far as we remember we'd only got as far as the moon… what year is it?"

The turian frowned, **"The First Contact War was in 2157, and it's 2177 now."**

Harry's jaw dropped, "2177?" When the turian nodded he turned to Hermione, "Hermione, we were in 1998…"

The brunette nodded, "Yes… that means that we're nearly eighteen decades into our own future!"

"**Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up there;" **the turian interjected, **"Are you saying that you're from the past?"**

Harry shrugged, "Considering we have no idea what a turian is, that'd be a fair guess."

The turian thought for a second before nodding, **"You're coming with me. My boss can probably sort this out."**

Hermione visibly perked up at the thought, ignoring Harry's smirk as he thought, _"Some things never change. A hundred and eighty years into the future and Hermione still likes meeting authority figures."_

Shaking his head slightly, he and his companion followed Gavorn off down the alley.

-LatS-

Aria T'Loak was examining a datapad containing the latest security reports when Captain Preitor Gavorn approached. "What is it, Gavorn?" she asked, dropping the datapad onto the couch beside her, "Are the vorcha getting uppity again? Or is it time for your weekly report already?"

"No, ma'am," Gavorn replied, "I was out on patrol when I noticed six vorcha entering an alleyway. Less than two minutes later I witnessed the entire group exiting the alley again… thrown by the biggest biotic surge I've ever seen."

Aria's eyes narrowed and she focused past Gavorn to look at the two humans behind him, "And are these two the ones responsible for the action you speak of?"

Gavorn nodded, "Yes. I brought them to you for that reason. I should say though; they seem not to have omnitools so you'll need to use your omnitool's text-to-speech function."

Aria's eyes narrowed and she clicked her fingers, "Give them omnitools. I refuse to type what I want to say."

There were a few minutes before another alien, this one much more humanoid with a bald head and two pairs of eyes, appeared and handed two bands to Harry and Hermione. Gavorn immediately stepped in and began typing again, instructing them on how to use their omnitools.

When they had finished their rapid crash-course in omnitool usage, they sat down on the couch where Aria indicated and waited for her to speak.

Finally the blue-skinned woman chuckled, "Are you waiting for me to announce you?"

Harry blinked, startled at the woman's cool attitude, before he recovered, "I take it that you're the one in charge of… what did he call it… Omega?"

Aria laughed, "Oh yes, I _am_ the one in charge." She leaned forwards, "I'm the boss, CEO, queen… if you're feeling dramatic." She stood up and turned to face the main floor of the club, "You ask me if I'm in charge of Omega, well… _I _am Omega."

She sat back down, "But I digress; what's your story? Considering I haven't seen your faces on my docking bay surveillance and there's no record of your boarding the station. So how did you get here?"

Harry leaned back, "It would appear that my companion and I have been launched a total of one-hundred-and-seventy-nine years into our own future. Our starting point was in London, England, on Earth."

Aria scrutinized them for a brief moment before she stood up, "I want to see proof."

"How?" Harry queried.

Aria leaned forwards, "Asari like me have the ability to meld our minds with those of others to see their memories. I will only believe you came from the past if you allow me to see your memories. Refuse and both of you go out an airlock for wasting my time."

Harry sighed and lowered his Occlumency barriers, "Fine. Go ahead."

Aria sat down in front of him and looked him right in the eye, "Relax… and embrace eternity!"

As Harry felt Aria begin searching his mind, he immediately pushed a completely fabricated set of memories towards her. After viewing a heavily-edited version of Harry's life, excluding Ron and any indication of Harry's abilities beyond unnatural strength with his "biotics", Aria finally sat back and massaged her aching temples, "I… see."

After a few moments she looked up at Gavorn, "Take them away. Find a place for them to stay and make sure they're comfortable. Their story is legitimate, but I need to go and lie down before I make any more decisions on what to do with them."

Gavorn nodded, gestured to Harry and Hermione, and led them from Afterlife.

Unnoticed by any of the trio, a black-clad figure looked up from the bar as they moved by. Her eyes glittered from under her hood, and her lips curved into a smile as she stood up, paid for her drink, and followed. As she passed through the doors of the club, she seemed to flicker out of existence.

-LatS-

Harry looked around their new apartment as Gavorn finished transferring a Codex to their omnitools and stood up, "There, that should answer any questions you might have. Study them well if you're going to stay here."

Hermione nodded, "Thank you, Mr Gavorn."

The turian laughed, "Mr Gavorn? How formal. Just call me Captain, please."

"Okay, Captain."

The turian nodded, "I'll be off then. Your omnitools are programmed with the frequency of mine if you need to ask something." He left.

Harry settled back on the couch, "So, what do you think?"

Hermione shrugged, "This is fascinating. We've come forward in time… if I wasn't sad that everyone we knew is most likely dead, I would be elated at this chance to learn about how things turned out."

"Well," Harry said, holding up his omnitool, "It looks like what's now known as biotics originally evolved from magic, and it's no longer a hereditary condition in humans. It apparently now requires something called element zero to activate."

Hermione examined the analysis he had sent her and nodded, "That sounds reasonable. Maybe the magical genome has become recessive or dormant, and it's only exposure to the radiation of element zero that allows the genome to reactivate itself or give it the component required to…" she trailed off into a string of scientific jargon that went straight over Harry's head.

Finally Harry checked the clock and stood up, "Hermione, we should get to bed. Or at least find some food."

Hermione frowned, "That reminds me; we need to get some money."

Harry leaned back against the settee cushions, "But what could we do?"

"Run odd jobs? We could ask Gavorn."

Harry nodded, "Let's wait until morning. We're both tired, and it'll be better to leave it until we're well-rested. I'm feeling a little wiped from that mind-meld thing Aria did to me."

Hermione nodded and wandered over the bedroom part of the apartment. She stopped halfway there and immediately blushed. There was only one bed… and it was a double. A narrow double, at that. She could tell she and Harry would have to practically cuddle up to one another to get in.

The problem was solved not ten seconds later as Harry glanced over and said, "I'll take the couch."

Hermione nodded, but was unable to deny that she gave an inward sigh of disappointment. Walking over to the bed, she settled down on the covers and closed her eyes.

Harry watched her for a few minutes before lying down on the couch and closing his own eyes. Plans for the future they now inhabited could wait until morning.

He never noticed a slight shimmering in the air over by the door, nor did he hear the soft swish as the invisible observer slipped out of the apartment.

-LatS-

Harry and Hermione decided to go exploring Omega when they woke up the next day. After acquiring a map from Gavorn and downloading it to their omnitools, they set out to look around.

It quickly became obvious to the pair that Omega was the beating heart of the galaxy's dark side. Mercenaries and the most unseemly of people were everywhere, and Harry had to suppress the urge to fire up his biotics and start beating in earnest as he watched criminals brokering deals and bullying those weaker than them. It was only Hermione's presence that allowed him to accomplish this, her calming hand in his as they walked slowly around. Presently they came to a district where a bunch of the vorcha and krogan mentioned in the Codex watched them from various buildings.

"You're in the wrong place, humans," sneered one of the krogan, "This is Blood Pack territory."

Harry chuckled, "What's the Blood Pack?"

The krogan laughed, "You're cocky, human! The Blood Pack is one of the most powerful merc groups on Omega! Now get out of our district! Or do you want us to force you out?"

Harry looked around, finally spying a metal pole on the floor. Picking it up, he focused.

The Blood Pack looked confused as an aura of biotic energy appeared around the human, and then it became shock as he proceeded to bend the pole as easily as if it were made of rubber.

Tying the pole into a perfect bow knot, Harry flung it onto the ground at the krogan's feet. His tone was ice cold as he replied, "I want you to try."

-LatS-

Meanwhile, on the other side of the district, Preitor Gavorn was speaking to Aria on his omnitool, "No, don't worry. They won't get into any trouble; I gave them a map marked with the merc territories so they wouldn't walk into…"

Loud screaming drew his attention, and he turned to see a number of Blood Pack krogan and vorcha running in his direction out of the district. As they passed one of the krogan yelled, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! HE'LL KILL US ALL!"

Gavorn watched them go before turning around. Harry Potter was standing twenty feet away, surrounded by biotic energy and smiling at him, "Oh, hello Captain Gavorn."

Gavorn gaped at him for a second before he raised his omnitool and said, "Um, never mind. Looks like the Blood Pack had more to worry about from meeting them."

He ended the conversation and turned to Harry, "Was that you?"

Harry gave him a deadpan look, "No, it was a…" he checked his omnitool again, "…volus with a pikestaff. Yeah, it was me. They were mouthing off and acting all tough."

Gavorn stared at him, "Acting… tough? Potter, those are Blood Pack mercenaries, they're part of one of the three most powerful merc gangs in the Terminus Systems and definitely the most vicious."

"The other two were… the Blue Suns and Eclipse, right?"

"Correct."

"Blue and white armour on Blue Suns, yellow and black for the Eclipse, right?"

"Yes… how did you know that?"

"Just guessing," Harry pointed over Gavorn's shoulder, "There's a lot of them over there. If you'll excuse me, I'll just go and say hello… pass me that pole."

Gavorn eyed the indicated length of solid metal, "Why do you need it?"

"Oh, I just want to make an impression… or several. On them."

Gavorn handed Harry the pole and Harry wandered towards the mercs, idly spinning it in his hand like a baton. Gavorn heard him say, "Hi, you must be the welcoming committee. I'm Harry, I'm your new neighbour…"

There was a pause while the mercs looked at each other, then one said something. This was evidently a mistake, Gavorn noted a few seconds later.

-LatS-

"Get the heavies or we're all going to die!"

The Eclipse engineers behind the lines heeded the call; a line of YMIR mechs thundered into the now-hostile neighbourhood… and were flung back out in pieces a split second later.

It seemed that the black-haired psychopath they had encountered first had been joined by a friend, a brown-haired woman with seemingly just as much raw biotic power and just as few qualms about using it.

Now the duo were holding the line about fifteen metres inside the district, the woman creating barriers to stop bullets while the male stood beside her launching biotic pulses into anything that moved.

"Hey!" Harry yelled, just as the first of the mercs' gunships rolled in, "We don't want any trouble; just let us work out a deal with your leaders and we'll leave!"

"What are you doing?" Hermione hissed.

"Ad-libbing!" Harry whispered back before looking up to get the mercs' response.

A few more minutes passed before the mercs agreed and split up to get their leaders.

-LatS-

"Alright, human," snarled Jaroth, leader of Eclipse, "What's this deal you wanted to cut?"

Harry lounged back in his chair, "You guys commit your resources to Aria and obey her orders, and I don't wipe all of you out."

Garm laughed, "You really think you could take all three of us as well as all our soldiers, human?"

Harry laughed back, "I don't think, I _know_. Now, will you accept my deal?"

Tarak spat on the table by Harry's feet. "Fine," he said, "I guess that answers my question." He raised a hand and thought, _"Impedimenta!"_

All three gang leaders froze. "What…" snarled Garm, "What have you done to us?"

"Taken steps," said Harry, as he took his feet off the desk and walked around it, "I was trying to be polite, but now…" He stopped in front of Jaroth and looked him dead in the eyes, thinking, _"Legilimens!"_

-LatS-

"A present, you say?"

"Yes, Aria," Harry grinned, "I assume Gavorn has already told you about our little altercation with the Blood Pack, Blue Suns and Eclipse today?"

"Yes, he has. Even if he hadn't, most of Omega is talking about it."

"Well, we…" he winced at Hermione's warning look, "I mean, I, had the idea that we owed you for being so hospitable towards us and not kicking us out an airlock." He smirked, "As such, we captured the merc gang leaders and made them swear fealty to you."

Aria blinked; she hadn't expected that, "You did WHAT?"

"Captured the leaders of Blood Pack, Blue Suns and Eclipse and made them swear fealty to you."

"_Well,"_ he thought, _"That's partly the truth. They'll obey my orders before yours, but still…"_

"…And what made you decide to do this?"

"They looked at me wrong. Besides, it seems the mercs now hate us enough to join forces."

Aria frowned, "Hmm… in that case it might be better if you leave Omega."

Harry held up his hand, "Aria, we can't just take your money or a ship…"

Aria laughed, "Ahhh, humans and their noble natures… very well, if you think you can come up with a way to come up with sufficient credits to buy or build your own ship, then you're free to go on your way. Until then…" she stood up and turned away, "Dismissed."

-LatS-

Harry and Hermione returned to the apartment four hours later, having exhaustedly scoured Omega looking at prices on both used ships and tickets for passenger freighters off the station. They had had no luck.

"The issue," said Hermione as Harry waved his omnitool at the door to lock it, "is that we haven't got any money. Galleons, Sickles and Knuts are all worthless here even if any had survived the trip."

Harry nodded in agreement as he moved towards the kitchen area, but then something caught his eye. Turning towards the lounge area, his sharp Seeker's eyes picked out an odd shimmer near the window.

Instantly, all Harry's experience from fighting Disillusioned Death Eaters during the war came flooding back. Hermione turned as Harry dropped into a combat stance and brought his biotics swirling into being, "I know you're there! Show yourself, now!"

The air continued to shimmer before seeming to become opaque with static and finally revealing the figure that had been hiding beneath the cloak. A woman stood in front of them, clad in a tight black costume with a hood casting her eyes into shadow. She smiled, drawing the biotic duo's attention to a narrow strip of pink lipstick on her bottom lip, "Greetings. My name is Kasumi Goto. I believe we can help each other."

-LatS-

Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy, Donovan Hock shivered. He had an odd feeling that somebody incredibly powerful was now gunning for him.

A second later he dismissed it as another everyday occurrence and went back to the datapad he was perusing.

-LatS-

"How?" Harry asked suspiciously. Seeming unarmed this woman may be, she had been hiding in their apartment and Harry would rather liplock a Nundu than let down his guard and get so much as a hair on Hermione's head harmed as a result.

Kasumi nodded, "I happened to overhear your earlier discussion with Aria T'Loak about needing money for a ship off Omega. I myself have an issue which requires my attention, and I think that by us teaming up we can solve each other's problems."

Harry sat back on the couch with Hermione at his side, keeping his eyes fixed on Kasumi, "Go on."

Kasumi swallowed as she lowered herself onto the seat opposite, "A close friend and colleague of mine, Keiji Okuda, was murdered not that long ago. The man who murdered him, a weapons dealer named Donovan Hock, stole something which I want back."

Harry nodded, "And how does this help us?"

Kasumi nodded again, "Hock has a vault. I've never seen the inside for obvious reasons, but rumours say he has a fortune in there; easily enough to fund building a large ship."

"And what about you? Don't you want anything from there aside from this item?"

"What Hock stole from my colleague is, to me, more valuable than absolutely anything else in the world. I want nothing else from the vault."

"I see," Harry said, leaning forwards, "Hermione, a word in private?"

The brunette nodded, and the duo moved away to the other side of the apartment, "What do you think?"

Hermione chewed her lip, "She seems to be telling us the truth. Besides she wouldn't have any reason to mislead us, but I'm still unsure about helping her."

"I'm for it," Harry replied.

"What?"

"Think about it. We both know that we need a ship to get off Omega, and for a ship we need money. This solves our problem; besides according to her, this weapons dealer murdered her friend and stole something she treasures. Ripping him off seems like a fair trade to me."

Hermione frowned, but nodded, "Fine. But I think we should be careful."

Harry nodded back and walked over to Kasumi, who looked up as he approached. Harry took a deep breath, "Deal."

-LatS-

"So," said Hermione as they sat in a cabin of the passenger freighter Kasumi had booked, "What's the plan here?"

Kasumi smiled, stepping over to a large television screen on one wall and holding up her omnitool. The screen lit up and pixels coalesced into Harry's and Hermione's revolving faces, "Hock deals only with those who deserve his respect, and I know the type he respects. As such I set you two up false personas. You know, criminal records, aliases, articles in _Badass Weekly_."

Harry nodded, "So… cover?"

Kasumi tapped her omnitool and the screen changed, displaying extranet reports and other documents, "You two are a husband and wife, Solomon and Alison Gunn, who appear to be respectable but are actually biotic pirates operating out of the Attican Traverse. You're famous for capturing a turian cargo frigate completely unarmed except for biotics, despite the crew being armed to the teeth and well-trained. However the turians have recently gotten wind of your operations, so you need to buy a lot of weapons to stave off their attacks."

Noticing her companions' expressions she continued quickly, "Don't worry, it's all faked. You're not going to have turian special ops coming after you any time soon."

Harry frowned, "That sounds fine… so what's the plan?"

Kasumi's smile widened, "Hock is hosting a party for his connections. Everyone is bringing an expensive gift."

Harry's frown became a smirk, "We won't need one. We can just make everyone think there's one."

Hermione looked at him for a second before her eyes widened, "Harry! We can't just use the Imperius on everyone! It's illegal!"

"Correction," Harry responded, "It was illegal a hundred and seventy nine years ago. Now it's just a means to an end. Besides, from what the Codex says, Omega is on the other side of the galaxy from Earth. Even if the Ministry _has_ survived the last eighteen decades, do you really think the Taboo works all the way out here?"

Hermione sighed, "Fine."

Kasumi looked puzzled, "I'm missing something here…"

Harry shrugged, "Hermione and I have access to a very unique form of biotics. Using words we can refine the effects. For example, one word might render a target unconscious, while another might cause it to explode. It's not all biotic dark energy manipulation with us."

"And what does "Imperius" do?"

"Mind control. Basically it allows us to control another human."

Kasumi's eyes lit up, "That could be really useful! It'll definitely make our job easier and far more satisfying if Hock is the instrument of his own destruction!"

Harry coughed, "Kasumi? Back on task."

Kasumi shook her head, "Anyway, you two are going to need better clothes than those for a party." She pointed towards the en suite bathroom, "They're in there. You can change one at a time or together."

Hermione went first and eventually returned wearing an elegant black leather dress with a high collar and a triangular silver decoration at the base of her throat.

Harry smiled, "You look amazing," before entering the bathroom himself.

Hermione licked her lips as he returned, wearing a completely black tuxedo except for white squares on the cuffs and his white shirt. Even if she and Harry had lived together after the divide with the Weasley family, neither had really had the urge to have sex since it was still too early. The brunette, however, was now ready and planning to get her itch scratched after the mission.

"How do I look?"

Kasumi nudged Hermione, who jerked out of her thoughts long enough for the witch-turned-biotic to laugh, "Very nice, _Mr Bond_."

Harry laughed as well, "Thank you, M. Does anybody have a martini?"

Kasumi butted in before Hermione could continue the banter, "Okay you two. Referencing two-century-old literature aside, we still need to finish the plan."

Hermione was instantly all business again, "We still need a gift. We can't Imperius everyone."

Harry nodded, "Which means we need to make a gift between here and there. Suggestions?"

Hermione thought for a minute before her eyes lit up. She quickly accessed the extranet from her omnitool, ignoring Harry's questioning look as she finally gave a soft, "Ah ha!"

Producing a scrap of paper from the pocket of her jeans, now folded up neatly on the settee beside her, she smoothed it out on the tabletop and activated her biotics, closing her eyes and chewing her lip in concentration.

For a second nothing happened, and then Harry and Kasumi both saw it. The paper was changing; growing and transforming into canvas, colour spreading across it.

Kasumi gaped as an image began to form, "Leonardo da Vinci's _Madonna on the Rocks_!"

"Not really," Hermione said, opening her eyes again as she began layering what Harry realized was a complex Confundus Charm around the forgery, "That was what I checked the extranet for; the original was lost decades ago. We'll need to trick Hock into thinking it's legitimate, but…"

"That's smart!" Kasumi had caught onto her reasoning, "It's very likely that at least one of Hock's guests will be an art dealer or forger; they would realize the picture was a fake in seconds. We would need something like that Imperius you mentioned to convince them otherwise."

Hermione nodded, stepping back with a smile, "There! I keyed Kasumi in so she isn't affected; what do you think, Harry?"

Harry smiled, "Very nice, but we won't know until it's tested… though this is Hermione Granger we're talking about."

The brunette blushed and slapped her raven-haired friend on the chest with an open hand, "Flatterer."

Harry stuck out his tongue at her, "You know it's the truth."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply but at that moment a loudspeaker came on, _"This is your captain speaking. Our relay jump to the Crescent Nebula was successful and we will be docking on Illium in twenty minutes time. All passengers please prepare to disembark and have a pleasant day."_

Kasumi got up and stretched, "Okay, time to go." She walked out of the cabin, the two smartly-dressed biotics following her.

It turned out that in order to reach the planet where Hock had his base of operations, they would have to take a further two ships; one to the Citadel and one to reach Bekenstein.

As Harry and Hermione settled into their new cabin on a shuttle heading for the Citadel from Illium, they wondered briefly what they would find on Bekenstein.

-LatS-

"Ahh, Mr Gunn," said Donavan Hock, "A pleasure to meet you. I have heard a great deal about your activities in the Attican Traverse."

Harry, playing his part as best he could, simply nodded and glanced at the Eclipse mercenary examining the painting case Harry had previously handed him, "Mr Hock, thank you for inviting us. May I introduce my wife, Alison."

Hermione nodded in greeting, "Mr Hock."

The Eclipse mercenary finally deemed the case free of any unpleasant surprises and handed it to Hock, who unscrewed the end and slid the painting out. Unfurling it, his eyes glittered, "The _Madonna on the Rocks_? Amazing, I had heard it was lost years ago!"

"We thought that too," Hermione said, "until we captured an asari smuggler trying to sneak through the Hades Gamma cluster and found that on her wall." Her lip curled and Harry offered up silent praise for her acting ability as she sneered, "Stupid blue bitch; would you believe she actually begged for her life?"

Hock laughed, "Yes I can. Would you like to come inside?"

Harry nodded and he and Hermione followed Hock into the manor, Kasumi following behind under her cloak.

-LatS-

"So, Mr Gunn," purred a woman as she approached the pair standing quietly on the balcony, "I've heard a great deal about you… would you be interested in talking business?"

Harry turned to face the woman and leaned on the railing, as Hermione curled in close to his side and rested her head on his shoulder. He appreciated that they were only acting, but he couldn't quite force down the feeling that Hermione was enjoying this, "Of course."

The woman gave him a look which was apparently meant to be seductive, but only resembled a leer. Hermione gave a soft growl. "Well," said the woman, ignoring the brunette giving her a burning look, "The extranet hints that you lead a small terrorist group. Would you be interested in joining forces to take down a… competitor… of mine?"

Harry frowned, "And what's this competitor done to you?"

The woman's lip curled, "Done to me? Ha! He's done nothing to me, I just want to take over his assets!"

Harry frowned, "Alison, should we do it?"

Hermione looked up at him, "I don't know, Solomon. There doesn't seem to be anything in it for us…"

The woman's sneer turned back to a winning smile, or what was apparently meant to be one, "You'll get a small cut from the proceeds… after all, you don't need much with your reputation and skill."

Harry raised one eyebrow and fixed her with a long look, using a little magic to give his eyes a menacing twinkle. The woman backed down in seconds, "My apologies, evidently you're not in the mood for business. I'll leave you alone."

Harry nodded, "That would be wise." He turned back to the balcony.

"Nicely handled," whispered Kasumi, "But are we ever going to get to dealing with Hock?"

"Might be sooner than you'd think," whispered Hermione, "We have company."

Sure enough, Hock was striding towards them, "Ms. O'Reilly says that you snubbed her?"

Hermione snorted, "What is this, a primary school classroom? Ms. O'Reilly was flirting with my husband and I am less than inclined to talk business with people who think I'm just going to stand by and watch some trollop flirt with my husband."

Hock laughed, "Your wife is a feisty one Mr. Gunn. I am not accusing you; I have had two other guests complain about Ms. O'Reilly already tonight. I will have her removed."

Harry nodded, "Very well."

"One more thing, the asari smuggler… I have a suspicion which smuggling ring she may work for, what was the name of her ship?"

Harry felt Hermione briefly stiffen against him and made a show of thinking, "I can't remember… Alison, any idea?"

Hermione frowned and chewed her lip before brightening, "I know!" She gave Harry a look, "Remember? You joked about it being suitable for an emperor's freighter!"

"_An emperor's freighter? Her acting's good but her ability to subtly hint leaves something to be desired…" _Out loud he said, "Oh yes, the _Imperio_!" His hand twisted towards Hock and a soft blue flicker appeared around it. Hock immediately shivered a little.

"_Right," _Harry mentally commanded, _"Now, lead us down to your vault. Say nothing and act normally."_

Hock nodded and walked slowly back into the building; as Harry and Hermione followed him, Kasumi whispered, "Nicely done. So we're moving up with the plan now?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, we are."

-LatS-

They followed Hock into a room full of bookshelves, where he pulled on a statue, cycling a fake fireplace out of the way to expose a keypad and generator. Hock typed in a code before cycling the statue back into position and walking back towards a flight of stairs leading down.

"Wow…" Kasumi commented as they entered through a door and found a vault door ahead of them, "Kinetic barrier, DNA and voiceprint analysis and… a password? Damn, he's paranoid… though Keiji could have broken through this door in his sleep."

Hock approached a panel and set his hand on it, following up the computer's beep by saying, "Peruggia."

Kasumi chuckled, "Peruggia? Please, that's the guy who stole the Mona Lisa."

Harry spared her a glance before saying, "Let's go, we still need to check this vault out."

"Just a moment," Kasumi replied. She stepped up to the camera on the wall and held out her omnitool towards it. A second later she turned to look, "And now they're blind."

"Good thinking," Hermione said as they stepped into the lift and started to head down.

-LatS-

"Alright," said Harry, cracking his knuckles as they stepped out of the elevator, "Hermione, you take the far side on the other side of that fence, I'll take this side. Kasumi, go find your greybox. Hock… just stand there and look decorative."

Kasumi snorted, "Who'd want him as a decoration?" but she headed off down the lines all the same looking for the greybox.

Harry turned to the first item and immediately blinked; having gotten an eyeful of something he was fairly confident he'd never be this close to in his lifetime.

"It's Michelangelo's _David_!" Hermione yelled at him across the vault, "Now stop measuring up against its junk and get it stashed!"

Harry mouthed soundlessly as Kasumi, now on the other side of the room, took a moment to lean on a low wall for support while she laughed, before he turned back and muttered, "Reducio."

Distantly he heard Kasumi remark, "Bet you'd like to measure up to his junk, wouldn't you?"

Hermione's outraged screech of "KASUMI!" was followed by laughter from the thief as the statue shrank down to six inches high. Harry picked it up and stashed it in his pocket.

A shout came across the room, "The Statue of Liberty's head? How did he get this?"

Kasumi replied, "I'll send you the Codex entry!"

A few minutes pause and then Hermione yelled, "They blew it up! Damn them! Damn them to hell! Those damn, dirty… um… terrorists!"

Harry took that as a chance for slight revenge, "This isn't _Planet of the Apes_! Now stop referencing twentieth-century films and get it stashed!"

He chuckled as he heard a muttered, "Hypocrite," before the huge copper head vanished and he turned to the next item in line, a statue of a krogan.

-LatS-

"I found it!"

Kasumi's somewhat more subdued tone drew Harry's and Hermione's attention, and they turned from the last items they had been picking up to approach the thief.

Kasumi was standing in front of a small silver device resembling a handheld radio, looking down at it sadly, "Here it is. Here's Keiji's greybox."

Harry scanned it with his omnitool, but the greybox did not react in any way. "There's no point," Kasumi said, "The thing about greyboxes is that the information can only be decrypted with a specific key. It could be anything; taste, smell, sound… memory." She picked it up almost reverentially and pocketed it, before turning her attention to the two guns lying next to it. Her eyes widened, "I don't believe it."

"What?" Harry asked.

Kasumi reached out and picked up one of the guns, "This is a Kassa Fabrications M-12 Locust submachine gun… the weapon which killed two presidents."

Hermione frowned, "How?"

Kasumi shook her head, "I'll give you both the Codex entries later; it's a long story." She picked up the Locusts and handed one to each of them, "You should take these. Even if you don't use them, it gives a better impression to at least be visibly armed, just in case biotics won't work."

Harry frowned, "But neither of us knows how to shoot?"

Kasumi looked askance at him, "The guy who took on all three of Omega's biggest merc gangs and lived… can't shoot? What did you fight them with?"

Harry gave her a sheepish grin, "My biotics and a long metal pole?"

Kasumi sighed, "Should have seen that coming. Listening to a Blood Pack krogan gibbering about a "psychotic biotic" should have tipped me off."

"Psychotic biotic?" Harry repeated blankly, "They're calling me the "psychotic biotic"?"

Kasumi nodded, "Yeah. You should be proud; only in this galaxy a week and already you've got a reputation."

Hermione chuckled, "No, that's just Harry. He always does this."

Harry shot back, "You know you like it, 'Mione. Don't think I didn't hear you and Kasumi discussing my package."

Hermione's face went brilliant red as Kasumi leaned on the wall to hold herself up; her knees were suddenly trembling too much to support her from the effort to not laugh herself sick.

"Anyway," said Harry, turning back to the vault display next to him and shrinking the vase there, "Let's get back to work."

-LatS-

They finished shrinking and storing the contents of the vault in good time and returned to the lift. Hermione, having placed an Undetectable Extension Charm on her handbag before they left the passenger cruiser on Bekenstein to keep their clothes in, took Harry's spoils from him and added them to her own collection. Kasumi, who had regained her composure as they finished emptying the vault, sighed, "I wish we had a way to make these. Heists like this would be so much easier for me."

Harry nodded, "Yeah… why these were never mass-produced in our time is a question I've always wanted answered."

"Simple," Hermione muttered, absorbed in trying to ensure that Michelangelo's _David_ wasn't going to get an impromptu vasectomy from the Statue of Liberty's crown of spikes in transit, "Because most magicals were absolute fools."

"Touché," Harry replied.

Kasumi frowned, "Magicals? Okay, I was polite earlier by not asking about your references to events a hundred and eighty years ago as if you were there for them, but as far as I can tell neither of you is an asari so I can't possibly see how you could have been there!"

Harry shook his head, "We'll explain later. This isn't the time, Kasumi. I promise though, we _will _tell you later."

Kasumi thought for a second before nodding, "I'll hold you to that." She tapped the button to send the lift up.

-LatS-

The three accomplices and their Imperiused puppet stepped out of the lift and immediately stopped. "I'll go knock the guests and guards out," Harry stated, "You three stay here."

Hermione shook her head, "Harry, no. With the layout of the room there's no way you can get everyone at once."

Harry sighed. As always, Hermione was right. "Okay," he relented, "I'll take the left side, you take the right."

Hermione nodded, and they each went a different way, emerging from the stairs on opposite sides of the room and moving to positions where they could see each other. Harry nodded to Hermione, and they acted as one, _"Peripheria Somnum," _(Perimeter Sleep)

Guards and guests collapsed in unison. In seconds, where once had stood watchful sentries and chattering acquaintances of Hock's were now sprawled and snoring bodies. The two time-travellers hesitated, but there was no sound. Evidently they had been lucky and got everybody at once.

Harry whistled, and Kasumi emerged from the stairs with Hock on her heels. She blinked in shock when she saw the slumbering carcasses strewn throughout the hall before mock-pouting, "First the shrinking thing and the bag, and now this? You two are making me look and feel like a rank amateur…"

Harry chuckled, "Sorry. Let's get on with this." He turned towards the bookcases, but then stopped as a thought struck him, "Hey Alison, come here a second. I have an idea."

Hermione approached him and he leaned in close. When he was finished talking, the brunette was beaming, "That's brilliant Ha- Solomon! My smart husband..."

Kasumi gave a mock sigh, "You're _still_ hung up on how much you like that idea? Why didn't you just drag him into the bathroom for a quickie before we started?"

Hermione went pink, "Kasumi!"

Kasumi shook her head, "Whatever, De Nile isn't just the river in Egypt. At least keep the raging beast at bay until we get back to Omega or, failing that, back to the ship."

Hermione's outraged retort never came as Harry waved his hand at a turian by his feet and said, "Rennervate. Imperio."

The turian sat up and Harry crouched down in front of him, "Right. I want your name and information on your operations first, then you will transfer all evidence; names, coordinates, shipping manifests, etc. to my wife's omnitool. You will then empty all your accounts and transfer all the money to _my_ omnitool."

The turian complied. As soon as the funds cleared, Harry nodded to Hermione, "Obliviate and Stun,"

Hermione nodded and waved her hand at the turian, who collapsed again.

And on it went. Each guest was revived, placed under the Imperius, interrogated and ordered to turn over all money and evidence before being Stunned again.

Finally Harry stood up from dragging a salarian over to the neat pile of interrogated guests and said, "Alright, back to work then."

Hermione nodded, examining the cache of evidence on her omnitool, "What next?"

Harry gestured around, "We need to strip this room, empty vaults and such, still."

"Hold on," said Kasumi, "What was all that for? Why did we need all that information?"

Harry smirked, "Another nail in Hock's coffin, you might say. Turning this new evidence in to the local law enforcement will allow them to arrest Hock _and_ his guests. I somehow doubt that even if he manages to talk his way out of prison, he's going to be able to talk any of his friends into helping him for fear he'll turn them in."

Kasumi's grin broadened, "That's… genius. But back to work now?"

"Indeed," said Hermione, "We still have to strip this part of the house."

Harry waved his hand and all the bookcases immediately disgorged their contents; the books flew into an array of neat stacks in front of Harry and Hermione. Hermione's eyes glittered.

"Down, girl," Harry joked, putting a hand on Hermione's head, "Sit… stay. You can read them as a reward later."

"Woof," Hermione deadpanned before jabbing Harry in the ribs with her left hand and waving her right. Paintings and tapestries detached themselves from the walls and floated over to join the books.

Kasumi sighed as both books and wall décor vanished into Hermione's bag, "Yeah… I'm just going to open a shop and quit being a thief. I don't think I can measure up to you two now."

Harry laughed, "Oh, don't be like that. Come on, let's get clearing."

-LatS-

It was as they were clearing the third room that Kasumi drew their attention. Turning from where she had just tried to pull a picture down off the wall, she pointed to the safe behind it, "Look here."

Harry glanced over at the safe, then pointed at Hock, "You, unlock that and transfer all the money to my omnitool."

Hock nodded listlessly and proceeded across to the safe, following his orders. Harry eyed his omnitool's readout as the credit balance on the instrument instantly went up by a million or so credits.

"That was an interesting amount," Kasumi commented, eyeing the balance from across the room, "Let's see if we can't find more…"

-LatS-

And on they went, stripping each room in turn and searching for concealed safes before moving to the next room. Finally, they came to Hock's bedroom, where they emptied the displays of antiques before turning their attention to the central computer.

Kasumi picked up a datapad, "It looks like he's obsessed over trying to crack Keiji's greybox."

Hermione was examining the computer, "Let's see… Solomon, could we use this?"

Harry nodded, "Hock, go on that computer. Give me a full accounting of its contents."

It took a few minutes for Hock to complete the breakdown of his computer's contents, but once Harry had finished perusing the summary given to him he already had his next orders figured out.

"Liquidate all your assets and clean out every bank account you have, transferring the money to my omnitool as you go. Once you've done that, compile all evidence of your dealings, contacts, activities, and so on and transfer it all to Alison's omnitool, then wipe your computer's memory. Make sure that it's completely irreversible. Finally, access your security systems and erase any and all evidence involving us."

Hock obeyed and Harry watched as, once again, the credit balance on his omnitool blurred through numbers, more than tripling in under a minute.

"I think that's everything covered," Hermione said carefully as Hock finished purging the computer's memory, "We should leave now."

"In a minute," said Harry, "Just a couple more things to be done first…"

"Like what?" Kasumi asked curiously as she helped Hermione load the last of the antique swords from the wall displays into the brunette's bag.

Harry simply smirked as he Stunned Hock and levitated his body. "I say we add insult to injury. Follow me."

He picked up the now-blank datapad that had once held Hock's progress on cracking the greybox and headed for the door back into the hall.

-LatS-

Donovan Hock groaned and rolled over from where he lay sprawled against the fountain in the centre of his home. A soft clatter told him that something had fallen from his chest, and as he looked down he saw a datapad by his hand.

He picked it up and thumbed the button to show its message.

_Mr Hock,_

_Thank you, thank you for showing us such hospitality during your little party! It must have been exhausting; everyone fell asleep so we decided to clear up…_

Hock's head shot up and he looked around. His jaw fell open as he saw that his entire house (from what he was able to see) had been stripped back to bare walls.

Horrified, he returned to reading the datapad.

_...and I must say, you have a great deal of interesting acquisitions; the Statue of Liberty's head for example…_

_I digress, however. We got a little too enthusiastic with the clearing, but we decided to be good guests and leave our gift. So no hard feelings, I guess…_

_Oh! Before we forget, we also hired some nice guys to escort the guests home. They should be there about when you finish reading this message._

_Enjoy life… at least what's left of it that we didn't ruin for you,_

_Zeus & Athena_

_P.S._

_This was for Keiji, you son of a bitch._

Hock's eyes widened as he realized exactly _who_ had masterminded this insult.

Even as Alliance military police blew the doors and windows, swung into the room and began levelling weapons at him and the stirring guests, Hock could only find the presence of mind to roar, "DAMN YOU, GOTO!" at the ceiling, before two officers knocked him down and cuffed his wrists.

-LatS-

Meanwhile, on a passenger freighter bound back to the Citadel, the subject of Hock's ire was laughing with Harry and Hermione, "That was great! I'm so glad we got all this sorted out!"

Harry grinned, "Yes, but we're not done until we get back to Omega."

Kasumi nodded, hugging Keiji's graybox to her chest, "You know; I owe you two a lot more than I can repay just by giving you all the money from our heist."

"What did you have in mind?" Hermione asked.

Kasumi glanced out the window before replying, "You're going to build a ship with all this money. You're going to need someone to fence this stuff so that you can get that money. And you'll need a crew. I want in."

Harry looked at Hermione, who chewed her lip for a brief second before nodding, "It sounds like a plausible idea. We will need to gather a crew for the ship." She tossed her handbag across to Kasumi, "Take this. Value all of that, and when we get back to Omega we can start trying to get rid of it all."

Kasumi nodded, "Thank you. But first… have you started drawing up your ship plans yet?"

"Ship plans?"

Kasumi slapped her forehead, "I'd thought you smarter. Yes, ship plans. You can't build a ship without a plan."

Hermione laughed, "Oh, you'd be surprised at how successful Harry's been at running into things without a plan over the years."

"There's a reason I never make plans for anything," Harry shot back at her, "When does any plan we come up with work?"

Hermione smiled thinly, "Yes, but I attribute that to what I like to call "The Potter Effect" than anything else."

Kasumi coughed, "Okay, might I take a look at that stuff while you two trade barbs?"

Hermione tossed the handbag across to her as she and Harry continued to verbally spar.

The first thing Kasumi pulled out was the Egyptian statue. She smiled, "Ahh, Egypt. I could probably get a lot for this even outside the Alliance."

Catching Hermione's quizzical look, she explained, "The alien races have stuff we want or need, like biotic amps from the asari and so on. But we also have stuff they want. Case in point, the asari go _mental_ for ancient Egyptian stuff." She chuckled, "I had a statue of Anubis a couple of years ago, showed a picture to a few contacts on various planets. This one asari on Thessia eventually bought it for five times my price. Trust me; depending on how I can spin this, we could get a few billion credits for this one item alone."

"Alright," said Harry, "What next?"

"What next…" Kasumi murmured, before remembering something, "Ah! What's next is you two owing me an explanation. Your comments about magic earlier… I want to know what that was meant to mean."

Harry nodded before sitting forward in his chair, "Well, it's like this…"

-LatS-

They arrived back at Omega later that night to find Gavorn already awaiting them on the spacedock, "Welcome back, you two. I trust your little excursion was productive?"

"Most definitely," said Harry, smiling at the turian, "Does Aria want to see us?"

"Not yet, she knows you two will probably want to take the evening to settle back into your apartment, but she _would _like to see you first thing tomorrow."

Harry nodded, "Right. Tell Aria we will see her tomorrow then."

Gavorn nodded to them and headed off down the street back to Afterlife as Harry turned to Kasumi, "You're welcome to stay with us while you talk to your contacts."

Kasumi nodded her head, "You are too kind, Harry."

Harry smirked, "Shall we go then?"

They headed quickly back to the apartment, where a few productive hours were spent making a start on the plans for their ship.

It was as Harry deactivated a datapad detailing what they could potentially do with magic to make various systems more efficient that Hermione checked the clock and jumped up, "We should go to bed, we have a lot of work to do in the morning."

Harry agreed, and they quickly set up a bed for Kasumi on the settee.

As Harry lay down to sleep Hermione crawled in beside him, "Harry, can we talk?"

Harry turned to look at Hermione, "Of course, what did you want to talk about?"  
>Harry could just see the light from the window reflecting in Hermione's eyes as she looked at him, "I'd like to talk about us."<p>

Harry shifted to sit upright, "What about us, Hermione?"

Hermione chewed her lip, "I… don't know. I used to be okay with us just being friends, but now…"

"You want more?"

Hermione nodded.

"Why didn't you talk to me about this before?"

Hermione shook her head, "After you divorced Ginny and I broke off my engagement to Ron, I felt it was still too soon. Then we were offered the positions in the Department of Mysteries and work took over everything. Now we're in a different world, a different time… at the other end of the universe from anyone we might even be able to visit the graves of… and that worries me. I don't want to feel like I wasted this opportunity, Harry."

Harry gazed at the brunette in the half-light, "Hermione…"

Hermione cut him off, "I need to say this Harry. Ever since first year… ever since you rescued me from the troll… I guess I was just too shy."

"You couldn't have been shy forever."

"No… but by the time I thought about it, you were showing signs of being interested in Ginny. So I stepped aside and went for the second best option."

Harry nodded, "So when Ginny and I started discussing divorce…"

Hermione chuckled, "Oh talk about it like it was mutual, why don't you? You were practically forcing her to sign the papers at one point."

Harry clenched his fist, "Four days after our honeymoon ended… with McLaggen no less!"

Hermione looked revolted, "Ew, Harry! I didn't need that mental image!"

"Sorry Hermione," Harry chuckled, leaning back against the pillows, "So what now?"

"What now…?" Hermione repeated slowly, before rapidly straddling Harry's legs and leaning in close, "I'm tired of waiting Harry. I want this now."

Harry eyed her for a brief second, then caressed her cheek and leaned towards her as well. Hermione blinked as he kissed her, "Me too, Hermione…"

**smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile**

-LatS-

Harry rose a few hours later to find Hermione still asleep and still wearing her happy smile beside him. As he crawled out of bed and ambled over to the kitchen area he came across Kasumi, seated at the table and looking intensely grumpy.

"You look like hell," Harry remarked in a chipper tone as he passed the thief and opened the cupboard to find some coffee.

"Because of _you_," Kasumi hissed at him with a certain amount of exhaustion and venom in her voice, "Do you have any _idea_how loud she is?"

Harry glanced over at the sleeping Hermione, "She's not being that loud now."

Kasumi scowled and went back to nursing her own cup of coffee, muttering a few black remarks about "quiet ones" and "getting all the fun".

"Tell you what," said Harry as he poured boiling water from the kettle Kasumi had evidently just used, "Hermione and I have to go see Aria this morning, so you can sleep while we're out."

"Now that idea I like," Kasumi said, finishing her coffee in one gulp and returning to the couch, "Now wake up your bedmate and get going. Wouldn't do to keep the Queen of Omega waiting, would it?"

Harry poured another cup of coffee and walked back to Hermione, "Hermione, time to get up."

Hermione blinked sleepily and rolled over to look up at him. Her nose twitched cutely as the smell of coffee reached it, then she sat up and took a mug, "Thanks Harry… last night was great."

Harry smirked, "Well, there's more where that came from in the future. But you have to get up, Kasumi is kicking us out so she can finally get some sleep and we have to see Aria anyway."

Hermione nodded, quickly downed her coffee and scampered towards the shower. The last thing Harry saw before the door shut was Hermione looking over her shoulder, blowing a kiss and wiggling her ass at him.

-LatS-

After Hermione had finished in the shower and Harry had had one of his own as well, they set out for Afterlife. This early in the day, the streets were surprisingly quiet. It appeared they had left in the middle of the gap, when the nightlife of Omega was retreating back inside and the active-by-day folk were still eating breakfast.

Those few on the streets stared as they passed; looks ranging from amazement at Hermione (who was still practically glowing) to looks of jealousy at Harry. "What are they staring at?" Hermione wondered.

"Us," Harry replied, "Kasumi was complaining about us being loud this morning…"

Hermione covered her mouth with one hand as they nodded to the batarian doorman in front of Afterlife and entered the club, "You don't think…"

"Yes," said a voice. They turned to see Gavorn leaning against the wall, "About time you two showed up. Though considering the evidence I'm fairly certain Aria won't mind."

"She could hear us as well?" Hermione said, blushing.

Gavorn laughed, "No, but the noise disturbance reports she was receiving from some of her boys on the streets gave her enough to think about."

They proceeded up the stairs to find Aria studiously examining a glass of blue liquid. On the other side of the balcony, another asari was giving Harry and Hermione a look which suggested she wanted to jump on Harry and drag him away.

"You wanted to see us, Aria?" Harry asked.

Aria blinked and looked up, having evidently been lost in her thoughts. Her eyes roved over Hermione's radiant appearance before she schooled her features back into their expression of cocky confidence, "Yes... I trust your little excursion was fruitful?"

"Yes, it was…" said Harry, looking the asari directly in the eyes. It might have just been the remaining endorphins from the previous night's activities, but Harry felt like he could take on the world at that moment; a feeling that was easily demonstrated in the nonverbal, _"You know what we did and you can't stop thinking about it…" _he was practically speaking into Aria's mind.

The asari looked away with a soft sniff, trying to disguise the brief darkening of the blue across her cheeks, "Yes, well… what's your next plan?"

Harry smirked, leaning back in his chair as Hermione set her head on his shoulder, "Finish the plan for our ship and start buying up supplies. Actually, we'd need to talk about possibly borrowing a dry-dock from you. We'll pay for it."

Aria opened her mouth but the asari on the other end of the balcony spoke up, "Mother, you can't be thinking about _charging _them?"

Three sets of eyes turned to look at the speaker, and for the first time Harry noticed the resemblance between Aria and the asari.

Aria frowned, "Ah. Potter, Granger, I would like you to meet my daughter, Liselle."

Hermione inclined her head towards Liselle as she approached; Harry rose and kissed the back of her hand.

In the background, Gavorn was making bets with two of Aria's bodyguards on how long it would take for Aria to crack under the pressure… at least until Aria's empty glass shattered across his head fringe.

As the turian cleaned the broken glass out of the neck of his armour, Aria relaxed in her chair and said, in a tone of forced dignity, "Alright then… shall we get down to business?"

**(A/N: And I'm done. Boy that took a long time. A big shout out to XRaiderV1 for his help with the lemon, to pyrgus and stargatesg1fan1 for advising me on points to improve (mostly Harry's manner and behaviour) and to the good people of Fiction Group on Facebook for helping me with working out some of the later details. If you're interested in signing up, go to this page: **** www . facebook groups / 274833792558847 /**** (minus spaces). It's generally just a good place to find good fiction and such.**

**Now, a quick request. If there is anybody who is good at drawing deck plans for spaceships, please contact me. I have been attempting to draw the deck plans for their ship and been thwarted by my own lack of skill; apparently my first attempt "looked like a gummy worm". *stares at XRaider*.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you all when I post the next one. Peace! Leonineus, OUT!)**


	3. C2: Taking Care of Business

Lightning among the Stars

Featuring:

Kym Hoy as Kasumi Goto

Milla Jovovich as Liselle T'Loak

Michelle Rodriguez as Aela "Valkyrie" T'Loak

Chapter Two: Taking Care of Business

"We need to take a break."

Harry sat back in his chair and dropped another datapad onto the stack in front of him, running a hand through his hair.

Hermione glanced over at him from behind her own stack, "Harry?"

"Hermione," he said patiently, "Neither of us knows anything about planning ship designs. Neither does Kasumi, for all her other smarts. We've been working on this for three weeks and we haven't anything to show for it but about twelve zeroes on our credit balance from Kasumi's fencing work."

Hermione frowned and put down the datapad she was holding as Kasumi entered unnoticed, "Then what do you suggest? In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying as hard as I can to find a solution!"

Harry sighed, "I _know_, 'Mione, I know. But I honestly don't see what we can..."

"Ahem," Kasumi interrupted softly, "I don't mean to intrude, but we have a visitor."

Harry and Hermione turned to see Liselle T'Loak watching them from behind Kasumi, "Oh, greetings."

Liselle bobbed her head slightly in greeting, "Hello... During your last meeting with my mother, I noticed you had thus far failed to cover the topic of a ship architect; possibly because my mother does not actually know any."

"And you do?"

"Well, yes. Technically he's a contact of mine on the fashion circuit who used to work as a ship architect in the Turian Empire. His manner is a little... unorthodox... but you won't find a better architect around."

"Unorthodox... how?" Hermione butted in.

Liselle giggled, "You'll see."

"Wait," said Harry, holding up his hand, "You want something in return, don't you?"

Liselle nodded, "Correct. My mother, love her as I do, is protective to a fault. She has thus far refused to let me go out and explore the galaxy for myself. If I help you two get the help you need to design your ship... will you ask my mother to let me join your crew?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other for a moment before Hermione nodded, "We'll see what we can do."

Liselle beamed, "Thank you. I will take my leave." She turned and walked out again.

"You know," said Kasumi idly, "I only just remembered a little informal promise I made back on Bekenstein... Follow me you two, and bring your Locusts. I'm going to teach both of you to shoot... or at least shoot in a straight line."

-LatS-

"Right then," said Kasumi mildly, after she had found a satisfactory substitute for a shooting range, "Catch." Harry and Hermione caught the items, which were revealed a second later as a pair of paintball guns, "You two will need these."

Harry adopted a grip on the paintball gun, prompting Kasumi to tut and correct him, "No no no, if you pulled the trigger on a _real _gun with your hands like that you'd just break your wrists."

Harry nodded vaguely as he experimentally looked down the sights. Kasumi smiled, "Good, good. Now when you're ready, pull the trigger. But watch out for the..."

WHACK. "OW!"

"...recoil... Are you okay Harry?"

The black-haired male had dropped the gun and put his hand to his eye. When he lowered it, he was demonstrated to have a spectacular black eye.

"Wow," Hermione commented, on seeing it, "You look like half a panda."

Harry scowled over at her, "I'll remember that next time you get hit by something like one of Fred and George's joke telescopes."

Kasumi sighed, "Fine, come here." She wandered over and dispensed a medigel from her omnitool, healing Harry's eye, "Let's try again, and this time you should try to brace yourself against that."

Harry nodded and picked up the gun, lining up on the target again.

-LatS-

"So... are you sure about this guy?"

Liselle smiled at Harry as she lounged on their settee, "Of course. He's just what you're looking for."

"So when did he say he'd get here anyway?" Hermione interjected.

There was a sharp knock on the door, "Right now."

Harry tapped his omnitool, remotely opening the door. What he and Hermione saw on the other side made both of them stare.

A turian stood in the doorway, his silvery face marked with several straight lines in vivid pink as he surveyed them from behind a purple headset visor. He was wearing what the duo could only describe as a passable turian version of the hippie outfit popular in the '80s back on Earth, complete with beads and tie-dye top.

After sizing each other up for a few seconds, the turian stepped swiftly across the doorway and moved over to Harry, "Hmm, this one I like. I could easily work this one into something great! Let's see... yes, a dark green tank top would bring out his eyes fantastically! Oh and his hair; a ponytail would be great for him!"

"Ahem, Herren," said Liselle, trying not to laugh, "You're not here to give these two a makeover, though they might appreciate one later."

Herren looked over at her, "Really? Then why am I here, Liselle?"

Hermione coughed, "We... well, we were told you could help us with building a ship."

Herren's head snapped around, "A ship? You want me to build a _ship_? But I'm retired..."

Liselle stood up swiftly, "Herren, can't you do this as a favour to me?"

The asari and the turian eyed each other for a long moment before he sighed, "Fine. But I'm throwing in a makeover too. What kind of budget am I working with?"

Harry activated his omnitool and held it out, the credit balance flashing up.

Herren leaned over to squint at the credit balance. His eyes bulged behind the visor, "You... I... Where did you get this kind of money?"

Liselle frowned, "Does it matter? Will you do the job, or not?"

Herren seemed to think for a minute, then clapped his hands together, "You have a deal! I will build this ship, it will be my last, greatest work! The galaxy will remember Herren Wade, master ship architect of the Turian Empire!" He lowered his arms and looked over at Hermione, "Do you have anything to show me? You must have made a start!"

Hermione nodded, walking over to the pile of datapads on the table and picking them up, "Harry, would you mind helping me?"

Harry walked over to her and activated his omnitool, holding it up to the screen over the table as Hermione explained, "We figured out a rough layout for some of the floors based on extranet videos and such, then I compiled data about what the rooms would need."

Herren took one of the datapads and examined it, "Interesting. You've done a lot of thinking already, I see! Have you thought about what other races might need?"

Hermione looked up at him, attentive for something she had missed, "How so?"

Herren tapped the omnitool with one finger, "Turians and quarians have a different set of amino acids; they would need different food to asari, humans and such. Volus require a high-pressure ammonia atmosphere to be able to remove their suits. Quarians themselves have weakened immune systems; if you had one on board they would need a perfectly sterile environment to allow them to remove their sealed suits." His expression turned wistful, "Oh, the things I could do with a quarian exosuit... I could make them so stylish."

Hermione was writing all that Herren was saying down. Presently she looked up at him, "Any other recommendations?"

The turian shrugged, "Other than making sure that you're providing those facilities for any potential crew, no. Can I get on with my planning now?"

Harry nodded, "Of course."

Herren chuckled, downloaded the information from the datapads, computer screen and the duo's omnitools and left swiftly. Liselle bade Harry and Hermione good day before leaving as well.

-LatS-

"Well, this is my first draft. Do you have anything you might be interested in adding?"

Hermione tapped her omnitool, "Yes... we did a bit of research on potential weapon systems... could this work?"

Herren opened the file she sent him and looked askance at her, "You never said you wanted a dreadnought."

Harry looked confused, "But... we don't?"

"Well, mass accelerators like this are usually only for dreadnoughts. I don't think you'll get it onto this ship."

"Couldn't we try?"

"No. These kinds of weapons are immense in scale. If you want it, it'll take me longer because I will have to adjust the plans to accommodate it."

Harry nodded, "We have an unlimited budget, remember. You will be well-rewarded for your extra work."

Herren nodded, "Very well, I will return to it." He left.

Hermione glanced over at Harry as the door swished shut behind the turian, "Where's Kasumi?"

"Over here," the Japanese thief replied, "I've been monitoring the latest sales from the Hock job. I was right by the way; I tried selling the Egyptian stuff around Thessia and got enough out of it to fund materials for the entire cargo and docking bay per Herren's estimations."

"How much, _exactly_?" Hermione queried.

"Well..." Kasumi mumbled, checking her omnitool, "I'm just transferring the money to Harry's omnitool now."

Harry activated his own omnitool and his jaw dropped, "Um, Kasumi? I think my omnitool's malfunctioning."

"No, it isn't."

"...Merlin's Y-fronts."

"Exactly."

Hermione looked over his shoulder and her eyes bulged, "Wow. Asari really _do_ like Egyptian stuff."

"Indeed. I'm sending a picture of this off to Herren."

There was a pause, and then a cry of "JACKPOT!" echoed through the door.

-LatS-

"Do I have to...?"

Harry's plaintive whine almost made Hermione laugh as she shook her head, "No, Harry. This is part of our deal with Herren. We have to let him give us an entire makeover."

"But... but..."

"Harry, come here..." Hermione beckoned to him. He moved over to her.

Kasumi heard her say, "If you do this without complaint, I will do that thing I did the other night..." her voice grew quieter as she whispered into Harry's ear.

Kasumi had not been present for the night in question; Harry and Hermione had been kind enough to alert her to their plans beforehand. She _had_ seen Harry's markedly lucid expression when she arrived the next morning, however.

Harry's shift in expressions was _interesting_ to say the least, from disbelief to shock and from there to a goofy smile of some kind, "Well, when you put it like that..."

Hermione smirked as she turned her attention towards the door they were standing before. She knocked, it opened and they stepped into a large room filled with racks of clothing.

Herren stood in the middle of the room, and as they approached he immediately activated his omnitool and approached Harry, "Alright then Mr Potter. Stand very still and I will start taking your measurements."

Harry obeyed, and before too long Herren was sorting through a long rail of clothing.

"The changing room is over there," he said, thrusting a dark green shirt and a pair of dark grey trousers into the black-haired male's hands and shooing him in that direction. Harry obeyed and headed away to change.

And on it went. Surprisingly to all concerned, opinions reversed after about half an hour. Harry started to enjoy imitating a model, which Hermione found to just reinforce her own view of the situation.

Simply put, she thought the entire thing was simply the most exquisite form of absolute torture. Watching Harry parade past her wearing the widest range of clothes she had ever seen had left her feeling more and more aroused, and when he walked past her wearing a pair of swimming trunks of the kind that left absolutely _nothing_ to the imagination she actually had to excuse herself to the bathroom for a little quick relief with a Silencing Charm on the door.

When she eventually returned, feeling marginally calmer than she had before, Harry had changed back into his original clothing and had a neat pile of bags next to the door while Herren was gleefully examining his new credit balance. The turian looked up as they approached, "Ah! Ms Granger, if you will come with me, I will commence your own makeover!"

Hermione nodded vaguely and permitted herself to be led over to the rails.

For the next two hours, Hermione got some petty revenge for what Harry had done earlier; getting into the role of model as much as she could.

Kasumi, who had remained quietly next to the door through the entire thing, was currently conflicted. Yes, she was still faithful to her late Keiji, but today and in previous weeks she had seen a great deal more to her friends than she had previously noted in Keiji.

Deciding to see Keiji again, she activated her graybox and synced it to Keiji's, which she kept on a small chain around her neck, but not before seeing Hermione pull Herren aside for a quick conversation. The last thing Kasumi saw was the identical smirks on the brunette's and turian's faces as Hermione showed him something on her omnitool.

-LatS-

"This _is_ payback, isn't it?" Harry said ruefully as Hermione strutted past him, deliberately rolling her hips in the tight-fitting blouse and skirt she was trying on.

"Oh Harry, whatever gave you that impression?" Hermione said in a mischievous tone.

The male gave her an evil look, "You're getting it when we get back to the apartment."

Hermione shook her ass at him, "Promise?"

Herren sidled up to Harry, "I can provide a paddle if you want."

Harry stared at the turian, "What are you, a jack of all trades?"

Herren simply chuckled before turning back to Hermione, "Yes... I think that suits you. Next outfit... let's see..."

-LatS-

Harry and Hermione returned to the apartment a while later and stored their new purchases in their wardrobe. As soon as they were done, Hermione suddenly turned and shoved Harry onto the bed. Jumping on him and straddling his lap she said, "You drove me up the wall earlier, and now I get payback!"

Harry smirked up at her before his magic flared, flipping the brunette off him and allowing him to sit up before she landed sideways across his lap, "I don't think so... I think I owe you some payback first!"

Kasumi, standing in the corner, blinked, "Um... I guess I'll leave you to it then." She backed out of the room and closed the front door just in time to cut off Hermione's cry of "Harry James Potter, don't you da- EEP!" and a loud smacking noise.

-LatS-

When Kasumi returned later that evening, she found Hermione rubbing her sore backside and giving Harry evil looks, while Harry was reading something on his omnitool and smirking to himself.

"I take it you two are done with the dispensing of discipline then?"

Harry grinned, "For the moment. I can't quite shake the feeling that Hermione might have enjoyed it a little however..."

Kasumi looked towards the brunette, whose cheeks were unmistakably pink. She smirked, "She enjoyed it. I need to talk to you both anyway, or Hermione at least first."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other before Harry stood, "I'll go and brief Aria on our recent progress. I'll be back later." He kissed Hermione on the lips and left the apartment.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Hermione asked, sore backside forgotten in the face of her current curiosity.

Kasumi took a deep breath to steady herself, then spoke, "Well, over the last weeks since the heart I've... that is to say I..."

Hermione's curious expression turned shrewd, "Ahhh, I see. Is Miss Goto needing some release?"

This time it was Kasumi's face which darkened as she nodded.

"And I suppose you want me to share Harry with you?"

"...Yes. Is that okay?"

Hermione grinned. It didn't help Kasumi's nerves. "Alright... but I want something first." She reached behind her back and flexed her magic.

It was a testament to how accustomed Kasumi had become to the idea of magic that she did not bat an eyelid at Hermione's silent Transfiguration, but her eyes definitely widened as she beheld the ping-pong paddle the brunette was suddenly holding between her fingers.

"A little payment for all the innuendo first, methinks."

"Oh come on!" Kasumi protested, "It worked; you and your boyfriend were knocking boots as soon as we got back to Omega!"

Hermione swished the paddle threateningly, "That may be so, but you still earned this. Now turn around. Don't make me use biotics."

**smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile**

"I think we should talk about this... relationship." Kasumi mumbled.

"So, let's talk."

"I'm happy to allow Hermione to have first claim to you..."

"Sounds fine to me," mumbled the still-drowsy brunette on Harry's other side.

"Then that's fine," said Harry calmly.

Kasumi smiled and shut her eyes again, "Then we have a deal."

-LatS-

It had been a couple of months since Kasumi had been drawn into the fold by Harry and Hermione, and the trio were engaging in a lively game of Scrabble when there was a knock at the door.

Herren was clearly very excited when they let him in; the bounce in his step, the gleaming eyes behind his purple visor and the vibrating cheek plates were evidence enough to demonstrate this. "I finished."

"Sorry?" Harry queried, setting out some of his tiles on the holographic board and relishing in Hermione's muttered curse as he counted up the points from his Triple Word Score.

"I finished your ship design. There were a couple of things I had issues with, and I was hoping to consult you first."

Hermione pouted in Harry's direction before turning to look at Herren, "Come, sit down."

Herren sat and activated his omnitool, projecting a detailed three-dimensional model over the Scrabble board.

Harry's and Hermione's first impression was that they were looking at a large bird. The nose tapered into a large beak, while the hull swept back into an elegant set of curving wings.

"Here it is," said Herren cheerfully, "Your ship."

"She's beautiful," complimented Kasumi.

"Thank you," said Herren happily, "Yes, I'm very proud of my work; yes indeed..."

"So," said Hermione, leaning back in her seat, "How about the grand tour?"

Herren tapped his omnitool, causing the ship outline to become transparent and revealing the interior. The top deck lit up. "Here are your quarters. A fully-furnished set of quarters for you to share, complete with a walk-in wardrobe, king-size bed and a full entertainment system; I would have added an en-suite but there's an obvious limit to the water supply..."

"We can deal with that," Harry interrupted, "We have things that can provide enough water for everyone to have a power shower and still efficiently clean the water."

Herren nodded and made a note, "If that's the case, I will adjust my plans accordingly for a complete en-suite bathroom. Now-"

"Please!" Kasumi interrupted this time, "For the love of all that is holy, add soundproofing as well!"

Herren snorted with mirth before nodding, "I will amend my plans for that too. Now, let's continue. Your quarters also include a spacious seating area for informal meetings and an office with terminals for the both of you."

He tapped his omnitool, moving to the second deck down, "Here is the main Operations deck. The bridge, comprising the helm, weapons, navigation and control. You have the Commanding Officer's and Executive Officer's seats situated in the centre. The bridge is consequently more circular."

Hermione laughed, "Just like _Star Trek_!"

Herren chuckled, "I feel I need not mention that I decided to do some research into human culture for some ideas."

"Yes, we can tell..."

Herren nodded and continued, "Behind the bridge are the central elevator shafts and the main conference room. This also contains a full communications array... ah yes, I forgot. There will also be a private communications setup in your rooms for your personal use."

At their nods he lit up the third deck down, "This is the living area and general-use floor. Because of the large amount of facilities I had to fit in I was forced to "double-stack" this deck. As you can see, I was able to fit a full thirty staterooms on a veranda around the top level with a further four on the lower level, all of which are fully equipped for any kind of configuration up to and including being filled with water or even an isolated atmosphere. The veranda also has a lounge at the aft end. In the middle of the lower level is the main eating area with the kitchen in the middle. To the right of the kitchen we have the medical bay with a storage room behind it, though it could be converted into an office if need be."

Harry nodded, "Maybe, maybe. And the other side?"

"Tech labs, with a research office behind it."

Hermione nodded this time, "Alright. We can use that. The extra rooms that aren't needed for accommodation can serve for storage. Please continue."

Herren lit up the fourth deck, "Here it became a little tricky. The fourth deck will not be connected to the main elevator shafts running down either side of the ship because of your requesting I implement a mass accelerator. Instead the entire deck is surrounded by reinforced armour and shielding to protect the rest of the ship including the elevator shafts."

"Why?"

"In order to minimize the mass accelerator enough to fit it onto a ship smaller than a dreadnought, I was forced to contact a couple of friends in the turian Hierarchy for aid. They worked for a while and then came up with the solution of adding more coils and capacitors. Take a look at these notes; it'll be too difficult for me to explain."

Harry and Hermione opened the files Herren had sent to their omnitools and read. Finally Harry turned to Hermione, "Runes could handle this easily; could store a greater amount of power as well."

Hermione nodded, "I would need to test it first but that could work, yes. That leaves only the matter of a method of powering these capacitors."

Herren coughed, "One of my friends suggested a highly-controlled matter-antimatter reaction, but such a thing would be impossible for several reasons."

"Explain?"

"Well, forcefields would be required for both security measures in case the core destabilizes and so that the antimatter does not react with either the casing of the power core or the matter used for the reaction."

"Again, runes can handle that. Next problem?"

"An extremely advanced VI would be required to moderate the much antimatter reacting at once could prove disastrous for your ship."

"How disastrous?" Harry asked.

"Harry," Hermione said quietly, "Think about it like this. If you have a positive force and a negative force they will oppose one another. In this case, antimatter reacting with matter releases a great deal of energy. An uncontrolled mass of antimatter like the one we are considering for our ship... if we were to lose control over it, it would vaporize a huge chunk of the ship in seconds, and the resultant explosion of energy would annihilate the rest explosively. If we go ahead with this, we need to be sure we've put _every_ contingency in place or the risk will be too great."

Harry nodded, "We can address this after we've constructed the majority of the hull. Next level?"

Herren nodded and tapped his omnitool, "Deck Five is the main engineering level. The main cores will be down here. Not much else to be said, except that the deck only encompasses the rear half of the ship because the front half is taken up by the sixth deck."

"Which is...?"

"The main cargo and loading bay. The central point is the main bay, with the armory against the back wall. There are four cargo holds as well, two on each side, though two of these could be repurposed according to your needs."

Harry glanced at Hermione, "Gym?"

Hermione nodded, "Gym."

Herren made a note, "I will see about altering the plan to account for such. Now, above each cargo hold is a shuttle bay. I created plans for shuttles as well..." He showed one. Like the main ship, it was a very avian shape. "Ideally, there will be four shuttles."

Hermione nodded, "Alright. We can deal with that when the time comes. Thank you for showing us these plans, Herren. I guess it's time to start ordering in parts. Kasumi?"

Kasumi nodded, "I've already taken the liberty of locating a few people selling what we need in bulk according to Herren's supply lists... not including furnishings and equipment this is going to cost a few billion credits."

"We have fifteen digits on our bank balance. I don't think it really matters."

"Point. Herren, if you send me a full stocklist of what I need to buy I will get to work."

Harry glanced at Hermione, "We'll leave you two to it and go see Aria. We need to discuss something with her."

Ah!" Herren said, turning to look at them, "Ask her about VI-driven construction drones. You're going to need a lot of them."

"Will do. Later."

-LatS-

Aria looked up as Harry and Hermione walked up the steps to her seat. Off to one side, she saw Liselle tense and cross her fingers in her lap, but discarded it in favour of addressing the two humans, "Hello, you two."

Harry inclined his head, "Aria. Plans for our ship have been completed; our associate is just running over the last details and compiling lists of what we're going to need. We also needed to speak to you concerning VI-driven construction drones."

Aria nodded, "I see. Yes, those can be provided. Anything else? And does it have anything to do with Liselle suddenly looking nervous?"

Nearby, the younger asari jumped and spilled a little of her drink down her front. Hermione waved her hand and removed the blotch with a little magic, prompting a grateful smile from her.

"Um, yes," Harry admitted, "You see, Liselle was the one to introduce us to Herren, who has been a very great help to us. Her condition was that we help persuade you to let her serve on my ship when we finish building her."

Aria's eyes narrowed, "Get out."

Harry opened his mouth but Aria cut him off, "Get out! The dry dock is still yours, and I'll get some VI-driven construction drones down there for you to use. Just get out of this club!"

Harry closed his mouth, nodded and stood, turning and leaving with Hermione in tow.

"Mother..." Liselle began.

Aria cut her off too, "Go home, Liselle. I need time to think."

Liselle looked disquieted, but nodded and left as well.

Aria sank back in her chair, lost in her thoughts.

-LatS-

"So, how did your meeting with Aria go?" Kasumi asked.

"Not well," Hermione said, "She got very angry when we told her about our agreement with Liselle. We did get VI-driven construction drones though. How did you do?"

Kasumi smiled under her hood, "I spoke to one of my contacts on Illium and was pleasantly surprised. Not only is he going to be the go-between for sending us the things we need, but he also expressed a desire to serve on the ship."

"So we now have a... what post would he take again?"

"Requisitions Officer."

"I see. Is he trustworthy?"

"I like to think so. His name is Fitle Nix."

"Well, I guess that's one more crewmember."

There was a knock at the door. Harry opened it to find, much to his surprise, Aria standing on the step looking haughty.

"I'm here to tell you I reconsidered. You may take Liselle on your ship, but in return she will send back regular reports to me. You will keep her safe; I have enemies who would not hesitate to target her if they knew where she was; and if you push her to do something she isn't ready or willing for... I will find out and I _will_ hunt you down and remove something dear to you. Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

Aria smiled, "Good. Glad we straightened that out. But just to be sure, take this."

She handed him a datapad and he looked down at it. "Valkyrie?"

The asari chuckled, "Her real name is Aela. My sister likes human mythology."

Harry looked up at Aria, "Why are you telling me about her?"

"Because she's... uniquely qualified. May I come in?"

Harry nodded and allowed Aria in. Once the asari woman had sat on a couch, she spoke, "Asari... I take it you are familiar with my race's capabilities?"

At Harry's and Hermione's nods she continued, "Well, as you are no doubt aware asari can mate with any member of any race, but asari-asari relationships possess a stigma in asari society because it's not really "gaining anything new", so to speak. Children born from such relationships are regarded with a derogatory term, "pureblood"."

Harry and Hermione burst out laughing. "Sorry," Harry gasped when Aria gave him a look, "Where we came from, purebloods are considered to be the best people to associate with. The irony is therefore amusing. Please, continue."

"Well, pureblood asari can potentially suffer from a genetic defect which means that they cannot meld like normal asari. Such an attempt will simply kill the partner. This defect is the reason why there is such a stigma towards pureblood asari. Defectives like this are known as Ardat-Yakshi."

"What does that mean?"

"It comes from a long-extinct asari tongue and translates to "demon of the night winds". Ardat-Yakshi are usually isolated as soon as they are discovered so as to avoid them posing a risk to themselves or others."

"How poetic..."

"Yes, well... my sister and I are pureblood asari. I was just lucky enough to avoid the defect."

"How did she avoid being taken away?"

"...That's a long story, one she would need to tell you herself. I'm just here to say that if you are willing, my sister would likely be greatly interested in joining you."

"We will consider it. Do you know where she is?"

Aria checked her omnitool, "At this moment... I believe her to be on one of the lower rings, keeping an eye on a batarian terrorist group that moved in a few days ago."

Hermione glanced over at Harry, "Shall we go?"

Harry nodded, "Might as well."

Aria nodded, "And I will return to Afterlife. Tell Aela hello from me." She left.

-LatS-

"Okay, I'm ready to breach."

"Eye in the sky is ready, Valkyrie."

"Quiet, quarian. Remember not to shoot me when Valkyrie breaches the door."

"Yeah, I'm already tempted to shoot you," Valkyrie snapped, "I have enough of a bone to pick with your old friends over two events in the past three centuries."

"Calm down, both of you. I've got your backs."

"Ready? BREACH!"

The door folded like tinfoil under the asari's biotically-charged kick and she entered, her shotgun leading the way accompanied by a cry of, "GET ON THE GROUND YOU SONS OF..." followed by a stream of asari words that her translator mercifully decided _not_ to interpret.

"Nice," muttered the batarian on the other side of the building, as he finished bypassing the lock on the door and hefted his assault rifle, "I don't honestly know what she just said but it sounded like something I ought to remember."

"Don't you know it, bosh'tet," muttered a snide voice in his ear.

"You're just jealous because I'm closer to that right now than you are, _geth tiir shaak_."

On a rooftop a considerable distance away, the sniper's eyes bulged under his helmet as he recognized the phrase. _Geth tiir shaak_, or "geth's bitch", in the batarian tongue.

"Care to come up here and say that to my face, _slaver_?" snarled the quarian.

The batarian didn't bother to respond, simply scowling and opening the door. Bullets shot past him, but the combination of a spray of return fire and a well-placed tech drone caused the hostiles inside to reconsider.

This was the scene that Harry and Hermione emerged from the shuttle to find before them.

The sniper tapped one side of his mask, "Guys, we have two humans coming. They look unarmed but they're showing a little too much interest in the building for comfort. Recommend someone try to head them off."

"I'll do it," growled the batarian calmly, "Valkyrie seems to be handling things fine in there..."

A girlish scream from one of the batarians within punctuated his last word, followed immediately by Valkyrie's roar of, "GET BACK HERE AND TAKE YOUR LUMPS LIKE A REAL MAN, YOU FOUR-EYED WET BLANKET!"

Another voice came back, "HELL NO, YOU ASARI PSYCHOPATH! I'D RATHER LIVE!"

Smirking to himself, the batarian proceeded around the side of the building and approached the two humans, "Sorry, but we're in the middle of something here."

The black-haired one looked at him and said, "Right. Do you know where I might find Valkyrie?"

The batarian blinked, "You're looking for Valkyrie?"

"Yes,"

The batarian looked around and leaned forward, "If I were you, I would wait a little bit. She's... venting."

"Venting," the brunette repeated, "...Is that why I can hear desperate pleas for mercy from that building?"

"Um... yes."

"_Oi, what's going on down there?"_

The batarian sighed, "Nothing, Fleet-boy. Just keep watching Valkyrie before..."

A deafening CRASH echoed along to them as a batarian flew through the broken door and hit the opposite wall. A moment later, a figure wreathed in blue stepped out and marched over to him, picking him up by the throat and holding him in the air, "_That_ was for the asari High Council, and _this_," she slammed the batarian into the wall, "IS FOR MY MENTOR!"

The batarian turned back to the two humans, "Yeah, seems she's almost done."

"Fine, we'll wait." The two humans sat down at one side to wait.

-LatS-

"So you want to recruit me for your crew, do you?"

"Yes," Harry nodded, "Aria said you might be interested and... encouraged... us to ask so that you can help look after her daughter on our ship."

"Liselle? My niece is going on your ship?"

"Yes. Aria has already given us the "hurt her and I hunt you down," speech."

"I see... well, let me introduce you to my associates then. The batarian is Chimera..."

"Though my real name is Brak; she just dubbed me Chimera."

"And the last one?"

"Right here," said a voice, and they all turned to see a figure clad in what looked like full red and orange body armour approaching, the dim light of the overhead lights glinting off his tinted facemask. Harry and Hermione both correctly identified him as a quarian from their studies of the Codex. He was cradling a sniper rifle in his arms and idly running his omnitool over the weapon's barrel, "Tiqa'Lasarr vas nedas nar tasi at your service, though please just call me Phoenix as Valkyrie does."

"Phoenix, Valkyrie and Chimera, huh?" Hermione said, chuckling, "I guess Aria was telling the truth when she said you liked human mythology."

"Yes, well; we all have our idle hobbies. While she would never admit it to anyone, Aria has a certain fondness for those sappy human romance novels. Kindly refrain from ever letting on that I told you, because Queen of Omega or not she _will_ hunt us all down if she finds out."

"Our lips are sealed," Hermione promised, "Despite Harry's apparent liking for messing with Aria's head."

"How so?"

"We'll explain later."

"Very well, I'll hold you to that."

-LatS-

"So where's this ship of yours?"

"We... well, we haven't built it yet. We're just ordering in shipments of parts and then we'll take care of assembling them."

"I see. And when will the first shipment arrive?"

"Tomorrow. We have work to do tonight in preparation for that."

"What kind of work?"

Hermione thought for a second, "We have access to... technology which allows us to create a field around a certain area, thus allowing us to either stop or speed up time inside. This is how we're going to build our new ship, set up a time field inside the drydock and speed time up. My calculations indicate that at least two years would be sufficient to build the ship, so we are speeding up time so that one month will pass inside the field for every hour outside it."

"...That's interesting, where did you get that?"

"It's a very long story."

"About one-and-three-quarter centuries long, to be exact."

"Right... what should we do?"

"Well... what can you do?"

Phoenix laughed, "Hello, quarian? I can make your ship dance. However I would advise you to find a better pilot as soon as possible."

Valkyrie looked at him, "I thought you said you _could_ fly?"

"Shuttles and skycars, yes. Full size starships... not quite so much. Let's just say there are reasons I became a marine in the Migrant Fleet rather than a pilot."

"Reasons?" growled Chimera.

"Yes, reasons. Let's not go there. Please."

"...Right," said Harry, turning to Chimera, "What's your strength?"

The batarian eyed him... four times, "I'm an engineer. Need I explain the concept, _captain_?"

Harry looked at him. Hermione started giggling, "Captain? I like it, cap-YEEP!"

Harry withdrew his biotics from where he had squeezed Hermione's ass with them, smirking broader than Malfoy, "Quiet, cabin girl. Now go swab something!"

Hermione's mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she said, "Why you..."

"Bye guys," said Harry quickly before heading off in the other direction at top speed with Hermione in hot pursuit.

Valkyrie was grinning _very_ broadly now, "I'm fairly certain I will really enjoy this job."

-LatS-

**Two weeks later.**

"Well, the first shipment is now here..."

"What is this one?"

"I asked Herren how things should happen and he advised me to order the shipments in order that they'll be necessary so things don't get cluttered up. The first shipment is..." Kasumi checked her omnitool, "...materials for the main structure. I also got Valkyrie to check with Aria and she has the VI-driven construction drones in the drydock. Chimera took a look at them and corrected a lot of the software bugs... well, after a very long rant on the ineptitude of whomever designed them... I didn't even realize there were so many words in the batarian language meaning "imbecile"... at least I think they meant "imbecile"."

"Just get on with it," Hermione muttered, giving Harry an evil eye.

"Aww," said Kasumi, "Did the queen bee get stung?"

"No," growled Hermione, "_Au contraire_, the queen bee has not been stung in two weeks. Now get on with it!"

Kasumi gave Harry a look before snickering and getting on with her explanation, "Herren has already sent the schematics to your omnitools, so it's really just a matter of lifting and moving the pieces into place so the drones can do their part."

Harry nodded, "We could handle that between us. I have power so I can throw the parts up. Hermione has precision so she can catch and move the parts into place."

Kasumi nodded, but then smirked,"You know, stress can actually inhibit biotics from functioning properly so I _would_ advise you to help her with stress relief first."

Hermione glared at Kasumi, "Boy, you _are_ angling for a paddling aren't you?"

"What was your first clue, Hermione-_chan_?"

Harry, meanwhile, was looking baffled, _"Is it just me... or does this seem alarmingly like how Hermione and Luna used to behave? Either way, I'm getting serious déjà vu."_

-LatS-

In a deserted tower house in Devon, England back on Earth, _something _sneezed.

-LatS-

"_Anyway_," Harry said, interrupting the argument before it could commence in earnest, "If we're going to begin work on the time dilation field we need to get some sleep, Hermione."

The witch-turned-biotic's mouth clicked shut and she nodded obediently. "Good girl," he turned to Kasumi, "When do the other shipments arrive?"

"Over the next week."

"Excellent, that leaves plenty of time for us to finish working on the time dilation field and we won't even have to take it back down to get the shipments in."

Hermione reached forward to take a datapad and start working on the runes they would need, but Harry caught her hand and pulled her up into his arms. "Goodnight, Kasumi," he said, grinning as he turned towards his and Hermione's bed with the brunette squirming in his grip.

-LatS-

In comparison to everything else they had done recently, designing and setting up the runesets to create a functional time dilation field was actually relatively straightforward.

Once Hermione had overclocked her thinking cap a few times to map out the required arrays, they visited Omega's salvage yards to find enough metal plates to engrave the arrays onto.

The only thing they had had an issue with was trying to get the plates for the upper boundary of the field into position. Finally they had suspended them from the ceiling with cables.

While this was going on, Phoenix, Chimera and Valkyrie had been helping Kasumi transport all the materials into the drydock and stockpile them at one end, inside where the field's edge would be.

They had calculated what kind of a time difference they would need, eventually deciding on speeding up time sufficiently that they would gain the equivalent of one "inside" month for every "outside" hour, amounting to two "inside" years in one "outside" day.

Since Harry and Hermione were the only ones acquainted with the exact mechanics of what they were doing, they would be entering the field alone.

Hermione could not entirely suppress a thrill of glee at the prospect of being alone with Harry for two years. It would give her a chance to try out some of the outfits that Herren had set her up with.

-LatS-

"So, we'll see you in... how long?"

"Twenty-four hours... well, that's what it'll feel like to you. For us it will be two years if this works properly."

Hermione huffed, "What do you mean, _if_ this works properly? Do you doubt me, Harry?"

"Of course not, dear."

"Good boy,"

Kasumi chuckled, "Whipped." A second later she squeaked as Harry's biotics struck her once across the backside.

"Bad girl," said Harry nonchalantly.

"Now I really wish I was going inside with you both.." Kasumi remarked. For some odd reason, spanking really got her motor running...

Valkyrie, standing ten feet behind them with Phoenix and Chimera, chuckled, "Yes... I've said it once and I'll say it again; this is going to be a _very_ amusing job."

It didn't hurt that their employers weren't hard on the eyes either...

"Anyway," said Harry, "We're just going to set the field up and then we'll get to work." He moved over to one of the metal plates sitting on the gantry and set his foot against the edge. "See you guys in two years." He nudged it into position and a blue wall shot up between him and Hermione and the others. Kasumi, who had been in mid-wave before the field went up, now seemed to be slowed down.

"That... looks really weird" Harry remarked, watching the REALLY slow motion wave.

Hermione elbowed him in the side, "I swear, hanging around with you is contagious. We're breaking the laws of magic just standing here."

Harry smirked, "Laws of magic? Since when have the laws of magic ever troubled me?"

"Touché... now let's get to work."

-LatS-

Outside the field, Kasumi and the other three watched as Harry and Hermione moved away from them and starting lifting huge spars of metal into position, followed by a cloud of drones. It looked like they were trapped in some kind of bizarre fast-forward.

"That's... oddly cool," remarked Phoenix.

"For some reason this reminds me of this really valuable human comic book from the 21st century I lifted a while ago... the hero was called the Flash and moved really quickly."

"Fetched quite a price too..."

Chimera glanced at her, "You're a thief?"

Kasumi nodded, "Yes... Kasumi Goto, master thief, at your service... now in the exclusive employ of those two, mind. They pay _very_ well."

"More than well if your reaction earlier was any indication," snarked Phoenix.

"Ask me no questions on that line of thought and I tell no lies," came the enigmatic response.

Valkyrie giggled and turned away, "Well, I guess I'll go see my sister. Later guys."

"Say hello to her from me!" Kasumi said with a wave, resisting the urge to finish with "And tell her what she's missing!" After all, she herself had a date with a toy, though it was a damned shame her toys couldn't possibly hope to compare to the monster that Harry Potter was gifted with.

"And now I find myself curious..." Phoenix said, "What's this Potter got that we don't?"

Chimera shrugged as he walked away, "No idea, Fleet-boy, no idea."

-LatS-

_Month 1, Day 18 of in-field time._

"Well, we're done now with the main structure and our quarters in the top now so we finally have somewhere to sleep at night..." Harry said into his omnitool as he walked along one of the upper gantries and viewed the ship below him.

"She is going to be big... isn't she?" Hermoine asked, as they looked at the framework which was exposed at points for the installation of various components.

"Yes, she is..." said Harry calmly, the first major component installation was actually one of the easiest; the Mass Accelerator Cannon. They had ended up having to reinforce the frame of the ship under the cannon with runes to keep it stable, and that had led to them planning to reinforce the structure as a whole.

At least the MAC itself could be installed as one piece.. or rather several smaller pieces rather than the thousand-plus smaller individual components.

"Anyway," said Hermione, pushing back from the railing and giving Harry a sultry smile, "I've got a little present for you in our quarters in about twenty minutes... come back there then and you'll get it." She moved away, deliberately swaying her hips from side to side as she walked away before Apparating down into the ship.

-LatS-

Twenty minutes later, Harry decided Hermione had had long enough and headed down. Walking through the door to their quarters, the first thing he saw was a tantalizing amount of flesh framed by a very familiar bronze bikini.

The first thought to cross his mind was, _"By the power of Greyskull..."_

The second one was more on target. _"I know I _definitely_ like Star Wars now..."_

Hermione was kneeling on the bed, wearing a very convincing replica of Princess Leia's bronze bikini and a convincingly submissive look.

"Hello, master," she purred sultrily, "Would you like to sample your... property?"

**smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile**

-LatS-

Their work the next day was markedly quiet; Hermione was moving somewhat gingerly and finding it difficult to sit down.

"We need to talk about this as well," Hermione finally blurted out.

Harry leaned back against the wall of the soon-to-be bridge and looked up at Hermione, "So, let's talk."

Hermione chewed her lip cutely before blushing, "Well... I'm not against keeping things this way. What about you?"

Harry smirked, then gave Hermione a stern look, "A little too candid for your "master", Hermione?"

The brunette went vividly red and stumbled over her words before turning back to her work.

-LatS-

_Month 8, Day 6 of in-field time._

"...Did it work?"

Hermione checked her omnitool, "Looks like it."

"Um, Hermione..."

"Don't say it, Harry. _Don't_ say it."

"Where did the welds go?"

The two were staring up at the ship from below. They had been testing an experimental runeset Harry had come up with the idea for. It was meant to reinforce the outer shell of the ship and allow it to self-repair when compromised... except it seemed to have merged all the individual panels of the hull into one single piece. The only panels unaffected, it seemed, were those covering the cargo bay and airlock hatches, which would need their own runes, but every other weld had seamlessly merged into the hull and left no trace.

Hermione turned and glared at Harry, "Why is it, even in a time when magic has all but ceased to exist, you _insist_ on breaking the laws regarding it?"

Harry snorted, "Laws of magic, Hermione? Have you already forgotten our conversation as of eight months and six days ago?"

Hermione sighed, "Never mind. But I do wonder how the hell you always managed to pull this sort of thing off. Let's go put the same runes on the main hatches to make sure they can self-repair like the main hull."

She walked off.

Harry stayed where he was for a moment and then looked up at the hull. "Why do you think? It's simple," he mumbled, "I'm Harry fuckin' Potter."

**(A/N: And it's over. Chapter two of Lightning among the Stars is done. Review, favourite, alert, whatever you want. Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time folks! Leonineus, OUT!)**


	4. C3: To The Final Frontier

Lightning among the Stars

Chapter Three: To The Final Frontier

**(A/N: So yeah, in an attempt to do something on GoogleDocs and then an attempt to undo it following a change of mind, I accidentally deleted what I had for the first draft of this chapter without having procured a backup, much to my own frustration… though I think it cheesed me off more that I accidentally deleted all of what I had written for my other little HPxME project… Oops! Wasn't supposed to mention that! Anyway, as such I currently feel intensely stupid. Oh and for the record, both Phoenix and Chimera are male. Enjoy the chapter!)**

**(A/N 2: Beta/lemon writer's notes: it may have cheesed him off… I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted to strangle him… I decided to let him live; he's no good to us dead…)**

**(A/N 3: How charitable of you.)**

**(A/N 4: I'd rather not have to try and become creative in how I hide the body… and the readers would probably hunt me down and kill me… so… safer for myself to let you live.)**

Co-written with XRaiderV1, since I apparently write faster that way.

Featuring:  
>Kym Hoy as Kasumi Goto<br>Milla Jovovich as Liselle T'Loak  
>Michelle Rodriguez as Aela "Valkyrie" T'Loak<br>Izabella Scorupco as Captain Hannah Shepard  
>Lauren Holly as Commander Jennifer Shepard<p>

_Year 1, Month 12, Day 24 of in-field time._

"Hermione, calm down…"

"Harry, we _have _to make sure everything's working!"

"Hermione, we finished making sure everything's working two weeks ago. At this point it's simple mania."

Hermione would have protested, but Harry turned her around sharply and pushed her back against the console, leaning forwards to capture her lips in a kiss.

Hermione gave an almost needy moan as they broke apart, "Harry…"

Harry smirked and stroked her cheek, "Now do you agree we should find something else to do? We still have to wait for the field to deteriorate naturally, or there could be unforeseen complications."

"Yes," said Hermione, smirking, "Let's go do something else… christen the ship, maybe?"

"Sounds like a plan," said Harry, as Hermione pulled him out of the engineering compartment.

-LatS-

As Harry and Hermione had said to before activating the field, Kasumi and the others all turned up outside the field exactly twenty-four hours after it had first gone up.

Now they watched as the field collapsed and Harry and Hermione approached, "Welcome to our ship!"

Kasumi eyed Hermione's almost-inebriated smile, "You two had sex didn't you?"

"We christened the ship!" said Hermione happily.

"That's… nice?" said Phoenix, "Anyway, what will you name her?"

Harry and Hermione turned to consider the ship for a moment before Hermione checked her omnitool and grinned, "I know what we can call it."

"What?"

"The _Cygnus_, the _Argenti Cygnus_."

Harry frowned, "That's Latin for Silver Swan, isn't it?"

"Yes. Seems appropriate, doesn't it?"

"I didn't say I disagreed."

"Anyway," said Hermione, grabbing Kasumi's arm and preparing to drag her away, "Let's go give you guys the tour!"

-LatS-

"You have all your clothing?"

"Yes, mother…"

"You have your comm unit?"

"Yes mother…"

"What about your-"

"MOTHER! You do not need to, well, _mother _me."

"Mr Potter was kind enough to put up some wards… it's not often I get to mother you without someone overhearing or seeing."

"Point."

"I really don't want you going, but I need to step back and let you live your life… just… " Aria was having a hard time putting the thoughts into words, "I want you to be happy, like any mother would their own children"

Liselle smiled and hugged her mother, "I love you…"

"Be safe."

Aria tapped on the shield, getting Harry's attention so that he dropped the shield.

"Thank you Mr Potter."

"No problem," said Harry, before he was interrupted by a call on his omnitool from Kasumi.

"Harry? We have company."

Harry turned around to see a krogan in Blood Pack armour approaching, flanked by two lines of vorcha and varren.

"Greetings," growled the krogan as it drew level with them, speaking in a surprisingly feminine voice, "Are you Potter? Harry Potter?"

"….and If I am?" Harry asked, unsure of just what was going on.

"Hm. You don't look much like I expected. I thought the person who defeated the Eclipse, Blue Suns and Blood Pack would be more fearsome."

"Appearances can be deceiving."

"So I see. My name is Weyrloc Kanara, I'm a Blood Pack lieutenant… I'm here looking to join up with you. We krogan have always followed the strongest… you beating the entirety of the Omega chapter of the Blood Pack makes you stronger."

"So basically, I'm the biggest badass in the block at the moment then?"

Kanara laughed, "That sounds accurate."

"And they are?" he asked, indicating the lines behind Kanara.

"My personal soldiers. I trained all of them… well, whipped them into shape… so they're loyal only to me. They and their war varren can serve as security guards around your ship, if you're amenable."

"…they kinda smell…" he was having a hard time not visibly gagging.

Kanara sniffed, "Huh. I guess I just got used to it."

Harry covered his nose, speaking in a somewhat nasal voice as a result, "They can work on my ship, provided they bathe first. Use the swimming pool in the gym; up the cargo ramp and it's the rear cargo bay to the right of the armoury."

"Thank you," she began herding them up the ramp.

"THE VARREN TOO!" Harry yelled after her before turning to Liselle, "As for you, head up the elevators next to the armoury and find yourself some quarters you like. There's a lounge on the upper veranda of the crew deck as well, if you want somewhere to relax."

Liselle smiled and walked up the ramp, "Thanks."

"…We've got a Krogan now?"

"It would appear so, Valkyrie, it would appear so."

"I'll say this… we certainly wont be bored," she gave off a laugh he was certain was borderline insane…

"Riiiiight…" Harry muttered, bidding goodbye to Aria and heading up the cargo ramp himself, "Phoenix, how are you doing up there?"

"Bored, wanting to see what this big assed ship can do" came the response.

"Well you'll get your chance soon. Chimera?" he switched channels.

"Up to my neck down here poking around the engines."

"Enjoying the scenery?" Harry smirked.

"Actually yes.. the walls down here are shiny," came the return shot.

"Well I'm not paying you to preen, I'm paying you to make sure the engines aren't going to crap out on us."

"If they were inclined in the slightest to do so... the fact we're at non propulsive power levels already, well we'd know it by now and the ship would be screaming at us."

"Right… so we're completely ready to go then?"

"Say the word, she'll deliver."

"That's good enough for me. Phoenix, start spinning up the ship." He turned back and yelled down to Aria, "We're ready to go, I'd get back to a safe distance!"

Aria nodded and headed to the observation galley all yard berths seemed to come with.. so it was childish but she wanted to see this ship's launch.

Various cables and whatnot were detached as the ship switched itself over to internal power, supply lines disengaged, and the overhead gantry arms slid back and away.

The various entry ways and cargo loading bays to the construction berth closed themselves in preparation for the berth's depressurization.

An automated voice echoed around the berth, "Attention all personnel. Dock depressurization is about to commence. Please vacate the area."

"Attention crew of the _Argenti Cygnus_," said Harry, having joined Hermione in their chairs in the centre of the bridge, "This is our maiden voyage so I want no problems. I honestly can't think of any kind of stirring speech so I'll just say that our first stop is to be Illium and dear God, let us not fuck up here."

"Harry… really?" Hermione asked.

"…considering the possible fates that await, and the fact that trouble tends to attack me when I'm alone? Yes."

Finally the physical docking arms and personnel transfer gangways disengaged as the gravity in the bay was lowered.

"Engaging maneuvering thrusters," murmured Phoenix as the ship lifted off from the ground, "Omega Control, please open dock doors."

Aria sent a quick message over omnitool, and the doors opened.

"Reversing the ship out."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

There was a long pause, and then Harry said, "Alright, what wise guy added reverse lights and an alarm to the ship?!"

Hermione blushed and lowered her hand, the beeping sound stifling as she did so, "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"…and she's the sane one?" Valkyrie asked from her seat at the navigational station.

"Sadly, yes," said Harry.

"I can hear you, you know?" Hermione said levelly.

"I know, dear."

Phoenix snickered in his seat, "Anyway, to Illium?"

"Yes!" said Harry, smirking at Hermione, "To Illium, cab driver, and don't spare the horsepower!"

Several floors below, Kanara was still listening to the conversation via the radio they had forgotten to turn off, "Now why do I get the feeling I made a mistake joining up with this loon?"

"Because that same loon took on the entirety of the gangs on Omega?" Chimera commented as he emerged from a service crawl way.

Apparently Harry could also hear them, because he seemingly decided to mess with them a tad. His face flashed up on a screen, a crazed look in his eyes, "Is that mutterings of dissent we hears, _precioussssss_?"

As Chimera and Kanara both looked bug-eyed at the screen, he burst out laughing and vanished again.

"…That was evil," Liselle remarked.

"He knows," said Hermione as Harry continued to laugh, "He just likes to mess with people. I blame the Marauder in him."

"…And this ship wasn't named that instead?" Valkyrie asked.

Harry stopped laughing and looked at Hermione, "…I hadn't thought of that, did you?"

"…I feel really dumb right now," Hermione admitted.

"We are free of Omega, bringing us about, and taking us to one quarter sublight till we clear the inner marker." Phoenix commented.

"Course to Illium plotted in," said Valkyrie, not taking her eyes from her display, "Hit the Mass Relay when you're ready."

Phoenix complied, and the _Cygnus _cut through space towards the huge blue object in the distance.

"What's that?" Hermione asked, pointing to another relay in the distance with a red glow.

"That's the Omega-4 Relay," said Valkyrie without looking up, "Nobody knows where it goes to… and nobody that goes through comes back."

"Well… at some point I dare say we need to find out" Harry remarked. He didn't like the connotations of the comment.

"Bringing us in towards the Mass Relay," said Phoenix, his fingers dancing across the keyboard.

The gigantic floating device started spinning up, the whirling and rotating rings beginning to fly… before the ship shot away in a streak of light.

"Dropping out in 30 seconds," Phoenix reported.

Seconds later, the ship slowed to cruising speed; her first mass transit a complete success.

"All instruments are reading green… drift… just under twelve hundred kilometres."

"Bring us around for the second jump," instructed Valkyrie, "I'm inputting coordinates to the computer."

"Bringing us round, and we're off!" Phoenix said, gunning it.

-LatS-

The _Argenti Cygnus _slowed to cruising speed; their drift was a 'little' worse at twenty two hundred kilometers after the last jump.

"And there's Illium," Phoenix grinned; he loved this ship.

"Illium control?" said Valkyrie, having walked across to the communications console, "This is the _Argenti Cygnus_requesting permission to dock."

_"_Argenti Cygnus_, I don't think we have any docking stations wide enough to accommodate your wingspan. We cannot comply, I'm afraid."_

Valkyrie nodded and severed the connection, "Guess we're using the new shuttles then."

"This oughta be fun…" Phoenix remarked. He did want to try those out too after all.

-LatS-

"So how is this thing launched, anyway?"

Phoenix had left the ship on autopilot so it would hover, while they would take a shuttle into Nos Astra.

"It lowers on that frame, we board, it raises, and we're catapulted. The shuttle's engines haven't the capacity for full speed launches off the _Cygnus_, so we have to use this method." Harry replied.

"Interesting… so basically we're about to be shot out of here like a bullet from a gun?"

"Yes. Hold onto your ass."

"…Why does this remind me of something off the entertainment section of the extranet?" Valkyrie asked.

"Oh… I dunno… because it is?" Hermione asked.

"Hold onto your teeth!" Harry called, "Things are about to get unpleasant!"

The clamps disengaged, the _Cygnet _suspending in a mass effect field before the generator flew forwards on a rail, slingshotting the shuttle straight out of the bay and slamming them back into their seats from the G-forces.

"This is the express elevator to hell!" Phoenix crowed.

"We need to upgrade the inertial dampeners…" Hermione commented through gritted teeth.

Forcing his limbs to move, Phoenix reached out and hit the control pad, flaring the shuttle's aft flaps and instantly slowing the shuttle by a significant degree.

"Phew," Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

Hermione drew a ragged breath, "That should be one of the things we do today, find a way to upgrade our inertial dampeners. Otherwise we're going to end up killing ourselves at one point."

Phoenix gained control over the shuttle and banked to the side, pulling it round towards Nos Astra.

"This thing's an animal," he commented, "You've got so much power crammed into the back of this shuttle, I've got to keep a tight rein on it or we could end up hitting something."

Harry nodded calmly before turning to look over at Kasumi, "Where did your friend say he'd meet us?"

"In his office on the trading floor."

"Right," said Harry, placing a credit chit on the control panel beside Phoenix's hand, "Phoenix, you go and get four sets of the best inertial dampeners you can find and cart them up to the ship. We'll install them into the shuttles once we're done here."

"Got it," said Phoenix.

"Kasumi, let's go visit your friend."

-LatS-

They went their separate ways after landing and paying off their landing fee. After obtaining directions from the concierge, Phoenix set off to find a suitable parts merchant for inertial dampeners and Harry, Hermione and Kasumi set off towards the trading floor.

Kasumi's partner approached them after an hour on the trading floor, a volus in a grey suit.

"Kasumi,"

"Fitle Nix… you're late," Kasumi replied.

"My apologies. I had to wait for another acquaintance I wished you to meet to arrive."

"Who?"

The volus looked about him before uttering a wheezy breath and saying, "Not here. Follow me."

"What a cozy little place this is," Harry snarked; still more than a little rattled from the shuttle ride.

"Harry, be nice, sorry Mr Nix. Our new shuttle design is… well, I believe our pilot called it the express elevator to hell." Hermione apologized.

"I left my stomach in the _Cygnus_' launch bay!" Harry protested.

"Wimp," Kasumi remarked. She'd felt worse, on a Kodiak for example; those things were about as stable as a bucking bronco.

Harry was cut off as there was a knock at the door and it cycled open to reveal a hulking form that both time-displaced biotics recognized as an elcor.

The bulky quadruped lumbered through the door and eyed them. "Uncertain: Are these the ones you spoke of, Fitle Nix?" The elcor's voice was higher than they'd have expected, and as with Kanara they guessed it must be female.

"Yes, they are. Miss Goto, sir and madam, this is Myxtin, my associate. She is a friend who works in the spaceport and is one of my contacts for pinpointing my deliveries."

"Well, we do need an inventory officer," Kasumi said in response to Harry's curious look.

"How big is your ship that you need someone assigned to inventory and quartermaster full time?" Fitle Nix asked.

"Big enough the spaceport doesn't have a bay large enough for us even with the wings folded in," Hermione replied.

Kasumi crossed to the window and pointed, "There. You can just about see her up there."

Fitle Nix crossed to the window, Myxtin on his heels and they squinted upwards. There, easily just inside the atmosphere but only barely, the _Argenti Cygnus _lurked like a bird of prey waiting to dive.

"Curious and a little awed: How large must your ship be for it to be visible from all the way down here?"

"Think a little larger than a standard cruiser, but with the tonnage and weapon systems of a dreadnought," Kasumi said.

"Fascinated: I see."

"So," said Hermione, do we have an accord?"

Fitle Nix turned to look up at her, then held out his three-fingered hand, "Yes, we do… I don't believe I got your name."

"Hermione Granger, and that's my captain and friend, Harry Potter."

"A pleasure. Now if you will excuse me… I will begin packing."

"There's just one more problem…" said Harry, "Myxtin is…"

"Sardonically: I am too big for your shuttles, correct?"

"Um, yes."

"Calmly: It does not matter. The spaceport often has Kodiak shuttles on hand for heavy loads, we can rent it to ferry me and my belongings up to your ship."

"Then let's go handle that then."

Myxtin nodded, "Cheerful: I will see you at the shuttle bays with my things once I am finished packing." She lumbered slowly out of the room.

-LatS-

"She's going to fit right in with this crazy bunch," Kasumi noted cheerfully.

"Probably," said Hermione as they headed back towards the shuttle port to find a rentable Kodiak.

"…I feel like I just got robbed," Harry remarked half an hour later. The price for a rental had been… Harry actually couldn't find the words to describe it.

"Agreed," Kasumi replied, "But at least you actually have the money to burn, right?"

"Not my point… but true, all the same it does actually NEED to last as long as possible," Harry remarked.

"Point," said Kasumi, "Anyway, there's Myxtin and Fitle Nix over there." She whistled, and they proceeded over to them with their luggage on two hovering platforms.

"I'll fly this time," Kasumi remarked. "Neither one of you has proper flight certifications, and I'd rather not be stuck with a 'scratched' Kodiak and a bill for the price of a brand new one."

Phoenix was handling the return of the _Cygnet _shuttle… could it even really be called a shuttle? or perhaps was a combat drop ship a better classification given the rapid descents it could make, which no Kodiak he'd ever flown could do. Phoenix shrugged mentally, he'd ask the boss once they were all back aboard.

_"INCOMING!" _yelled a voice over the radio, and he looked up from where he was settling the _Cygnet _into its cradle as a Kodiak shot into the bay like a missile, landed on the floor and skidded towards the back.

"…Okay, I'll send payment for a new Kodiak," Harry's voice was heard over the comm.

"It's not broken!" Kasumi protested, "And you can fix the scratches on the chassis!"

"It's faster and causes us less grief to just purchase the bloody thing outright…" Hermione remarked, "…and we need heavy lift capability anyway…" she added as an afterthought.

"We should see about getting a Mako while we're at it," Phoenix suggested.

Harry staggered out of the Kodiak rubbing his head, "No good, the _Cygnus _is too large to access atmosphere to the depth we'd need to successfully drop it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go throw up in something." He dashed for the elevator with his hand over his mouth.

"I meant so I could study it and modify it somehow," Phoenix remarked, "Hmm… ideas…" he muttered.

Hermione stumbled out next, "Phoenix, I'd like you to meet our two new crewmembers; our requisitions officer Fitle Nix, and our inventory officer, Myxtin. I'd like to speak to you about building something when you have a free minute, by the way."

"Of course, boss."

"Don't call me boss."

"Of course, ma'am."

Hermione simply growled at the quarian before helping a volus out of the Kodiak.

The volus gave a wheezing breath before looking around, "Very roomy, I must say. Where can I set up?"

Hermione pointed to the cargo hold to the left of the armoury, "There. You and Myxtin can set your stuff up in there. Quarters will be on deck three; we can set up your quarters so that you will be able to remove your suit, Fitle."

The volus looked up at her, apparently surprised because he didn't even draw breath, "What?"

Hermione nodded, "High-pressure ammonia atmosphere, right? Each room can be hermetically isolated from the main ship's atmosphere so it is feasible for us to install an airlock on the entrance to your room and create the proper atmosphere. Unfortunately," she addressed Myxtin, "We cannot address specific requirements in terms of gravity so I'm afraid you are out of luck, Myxtin."

"Conciliatory: That is alright, XO Granger. Jokingly: I would have been amazed had your ship had such capabilities."

Hermione nodded, "Anyway, I should go and check on Harry. Feel free to explore the ship and familiarize yourself with the rest of the crew."

"Will do," replied Fitle, "and thank you for this opportunity, XO Granger."

Hermione frowned, "No XO Granger, it's just Hermione."

"You are the XO, XO Granger," said Phoenix as he wandered over towards the lift, "Where are we going anyway?"

"Earth. Harry and I want to see what's become of our homeworld in recent years."

"Got it. I'll go up and tell Valkyrie."

As the quarian vanished into the elevator, Hermione inclined her head to Fitle and Myxtin before heading off to find Harry.

-LatS-

Getting down to Earth when they first arrived back in the Sol system was surprisingly less complicated than they had expected. They were intercepted not far from the relay and escorted down, where they disembarked in a shuttle. Kasumi had, during the relay trip to the Sol system, given Harry and Hermione a crash course in shuttle flying, but they still decided to take the Kodiak out because crashing a _Cygnet _probably wouldn't set a very good impression to the Alliance.

Crashing being the polite term for slamming into the ground at speed and causing a massive explosion given their luck.

And so it was that Harry and Hermione climbed out of the Kodiak at a shuttle port in what was apparently now London to find a group of soldiers looking back at them, headed up by a uniformed man with dark skin.

"Greetings, I am Captain David Anderson."

Harry inclined his head, "Harry Potter, and this is my friend Hermione Granger."

"If you don't mind, I would like to see some form of identification indicating who you work for."

"We're not pirates, slavers or what have you; if that's your worry. We're independant."

"Your ship is unlike any in common use."

"We built her ourselves."

"Which would explain why its unregistered," Anderson remarked to himself.

"That is correct."

"Very well. I would still ask that you come with me first; it's just standard procedure so we know you aren't hostile. I hope you understand."

"We're willing to be reasonable, but we WON'T be mistreated," Hermione emphasized the word.

"And you won't be, you needn't worry on that score."

"I assume we're free to leave when we wish?" Harry asked.

"Correct," said Anderson.

At that moment, Harry's omnitool chimed and he looked down at the message he had received.

_I have been waiting a long time to see you again, but I knew I would because I saw that I would._

_Yes… people claimed I was insane for proclaiming that you weren't dead, but as I've always been considered odd it didn't bother me greatly._

_So… since the Department of Mysteries… how have you been?_

_The moon awaits at the Rookery. You've been before. Coordinates are in the message._

_~LL_

"…There's only one person who could POSSIBLY do that." Hermione commented when Harry showed her the message once they were in the Kodiak that was to take them to Alliance HQ.

"But how could she be still alive all these years later?" Harry asked.

"If anyone could find a way, it'd be Luna. We'll just have to find out when we see her."

"At least we know where to go," Harry said as the Kodiak bucked sharply, as the pilot swung them about for landing.

"Where?"

"The Rookery? Do you remember _his _words, when we first saw her home?"

Hermione thought, and then realized, "It looks like a giant rook; a chess rook. The Lovegood's house!"

"Kind of hard to miss," Harry remarked.

"Hmm… maybe she laid it under Fidelius?"

"Modified so I'd still remember where it is… that girl always had some strange but practical ideas."

"Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there…" Hermione FINALLY understood what Luna was trying to teach her.

"After we're done here, we'll head to Devon and start looking for the house."

-LatS-

Had the situation not been thoroughly annoying, Harry would have laughed at the similarities between the Alliance representatives he and Hermione were introduced to and the Ministry of Magic.

As it was, Harry was edging dangerously close to saying 'to hell with this shit' regardless of the consequences.

"For the last time, no," said Harry, "We are not signing up with the Alliance just so we can get our ship confiscated and stripped down to the bare struts when we just spent two years building the goddamn thing."

"Mr Potter," said one of the female Alliance representatives, "I'm sure we can come to some arrangement that is beneficial for both sides. It is quite clear that your ship is highly advanced and we simply wish to ensure that the Alliance can benefit from this advanced technology as well."

"Then I suggest you come up with a method of doing so which does not make me want to kick somebody's ass."

"You'll treat us with respect, boy!" snarled one of the men, "We could just toss you both in the brig and impound your ship!"

"I dare you to try. Considering I made the Blood Pack, Eclipse and Blue Suns all run from me at the same time on Omega, I would like to see what you can do. I don't play nice with bullies, period, full stop, end of file;" Harry said, "Try it, and not only will I make YOU back down, I'll take my toys and go home!"

"Perhaps we can come to an agreement," said one of the women, drawing Harry's attention to her, "Why don't we assign one of our younger rising stars to the ship as a liaison?"

The officious bureaucrat scowled at her, "Fine. And don't think I don't know exactly who you're thinking of, Shepard."

The woman ignored him and walked around the desk, extending her hand towards Harry and Hermione, "Hannah Shepard, executive officer on the SSV Kilimanjaro.

"That big ship with the obscenely large gun?" Harry replied, shaking the offered hand.

"It's a dreadnought; it's meant to be that size. But I digress; would you be open to an Alliance representative being stationed on your ship?"

"No offence for how this comment may come across, but yes, provided he or she isn't a total jackass like that guy" Harry indicated the bureaucrat.

Shepard chuckled, "Oh, don't worry. I must confess I was planning to put forth my own daughter Jenny for the post… she's been desiring a way to get away from all her fans after the Skyllian Blitz."

"I don't think she's wanting to get away from them, somehow," muttered the bureaucrat.

"And what's that meant to mean, Mikhailovich?" Shepard rounded on him, her tone cold.

"Nothing, Shepard."

"It's the wise man who knows when to back down… what does it say when he's intimidated into it?" Hermione asked Harry.

"He's whipped?"

She hit him, "Harry!" Turning back to Shepard she said, "We'd be delighted to receive your daughter on board. Is that everything?"

"No…" said one of the other officials, "I propose we give another gift, as a token of goodwill. Maybe some individuals for their crew?"

Hermione tapped her omnitool, "Chimera, would you like some more crew in the engineering department?"

A growling voice returned, "Alright, as long as they have no problems with taking orders from a batarian."

"A batarian?" shouted Mikhailovich, "You're harbouring one of those…"

"Chimera is okay," said Harry warningly, "As are the two asari, the krogan, the ten vorcha, their pet varren, the volus, the elcor, the other human and the quarian on my ship. They take orders from me and ONLY from me."

"My ship, my rules," He concluded firmly.

Mikhailovich looked angry, but refrained from speaking as Shepard said, "Excellent. Where shall I tell my daughter and whoever is selected for your engineering crew to meet you?"

"Well," said Hermione, "Harry and I need to shuttle south to Devon to meet someone; our requisitions officer got them to sell us a package we need to pick up; parts for the ship, you understand. Mr… I'm sorry, we never got your name."

"Anderson."

"Mr Anderson knows where we parked our shuttle, so if they go there we'll swing by and pick them up on our way back to our ship."

"Very well," said Shepard, "I guess that's everything so you are both free to leave."

"Thank you," said Harry, inclining his head before turning to the door and walking out with Hermione in tow.

-LatS-

"I have never wanted to hit someone on first meeting as badly as I did that… jackass," Harry commented.

"I know Harry, but we need to be political."

"I hate politics."

"I know," Hermione said pacifyingly, "But come on, let's take a walk while we go back to the shuttle."

Harry nodded and they walked away from the building, heading towards a park that showed up on the GPS on Harry's omnitool.

"It all looks different," murmured Hermione, "I remember this route… vaguely… I used to walk this way to read in the park near… hang on, this _is _the park near my house!"

"I've… I don't think I actually got to visit your house… before, that is." Harry commented.

Hermione shook her head, "It won't be there anymore."

"Should we?" Harry asked, wanting to know if they should get away from the source of depressing thoughts that this area was.

"I just want to walk through the park one more time," said Hermione, "There was this one cherry tree, I always loved to sit under that and read books. I used to use the petals as bookmarks… I'd like to see if it's still there."

"Then let's go, lead the way."

They set off.

Sure enough… the tree was still there, only, it had grown huge in the intervening century and a half.

"Well, it's still there," Harry joked to the awed-looking Hermione, "Except it might be a little too big to climb now."

Hermione smiled, but before she could respond there was a clattering sound and a curse from behind them.

Turning, they found a young man trying to support himself on one crutch while trying to pick up the other from the ground.

"Here," said Hermione, turning back to pick up the crutch and help him get it situated under his arm. Harry noticed that neither of his legs seemed injured.

"Thanks," grinned the man, hobbling over to the bench situated below the tree and dropping heavily onto it.

"You alright?" said Hermione.

"Yeah," said the man, "Walking's difficult; brittle bones and all." He shook his head, "Sorry, I didn't introduce myself. Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, though everybody calls me Joker."

"Why Joker?" Harry asked before mentally slapping himself. "I'm Harry Potter, captain of the _Argenti Cygnus_… that big assed ship that had half the navy panicked," Harry clarified, "This is my first officer Hermione Granger, by the way."

"A pleasure," said Joker, "You have an amazing ship."

"You've seen her?"

"Hard not to when pictures are flashing up on every screen from here to Vancouver."

"I guess that's true. We still need an accomplished pilot for her though."

"Oh?"

"Yes… say, you just said you were a Flight Lieutenant?"

"Yep, and I know where this is going. I just got out of flight academy and I'm just waiting for my first assignment."

Harry folded his arms, "How would you like to come work for us? You'd be very well paid."

"It's not a matter of…"

"We can _also_," continued Harry, "have our more technically-minded crew look into making something which will counter or cushion your brittle bones."

Joker fell silent.

"The best medical scientists in the alliance can't fix this… what makes you think you can?" he finally asked softly.

"We never said we could fix it. Only that we could counter or cushion your problem; make it so you can walk without crutches or fall down without shattering half a dozen bits and pieces."

"Besides," said Hermione, "We can do things with biotics no-one else can. Repair broken bones or items, etc. I don't know about completely correcting your problem, but we could go some way to making it irrelevant."

Joker stared up at the tree for a long moment before he stood up, balancing on one crutch, and stuck out his hand, "I'm in. I'm going to go turn in my commission. Where shall I meet you?"

"If you follow us, we can show you to our Kodiak. We're going elsewhere to pick up a package first so if you meet us there when we return, we'll pick you up on our return trip."

Joker nodded, grabbed his other crutch, and followed.

-LatS-

"I hate these Kodiaks," Joker remarked, "They handle like flying bricks."

"Wait until you see our _Cygnet _shuttles," said Harry, "You'll be wanting me to find other people to fly the main ship just so you get to pull stunts on those things."

"Speaking of the _Cygnets_," Hermione said, checking her omnitool, "Phoenix says the modifications to them, after the initial flight that had earned them the moniker 'express elevator to hell', are complete."

"Oh, good," Harry sighed.

"How bad could they have been?" Joker asked.

"I left my stomach in the launch bay!" Harry yelled.

Hermione sighed, "Sissy, anyway Joker, we'll see you here later today then?"

"Of course. Can't wait," Joker grinned, and he watched as Harry and Hermione got into the Kodiak, took off and shot off south.

-LatS-

"How far until we reach the coordinates?"

"Not far," Harry said.

"Turn us north… there, follow the stream, we'll pass over where the Weasley house is or used to be, then turn us to the east slightly and go straight."

"Got it," said Harry, swinging the Kodiak around to follow the stream until they passed what appeared to be an overgrown ruin. "There's the Burrow."

Hermione did not react as the shuttle cut past the Burrow without slowing and turned east, climbing over the hills beyond the Burrow.

It wasn't long before they saw a tower on a hill ahead. "There it is," said Harry, drawing back on the Kodiak's controls until they were hovering, "The Rookery. Luna's Fidelius must still be functional."

"What makes you say that if we can see it?"

"Luna's always been good at breaking the rules of magic."

"No Harry, that's _you_,"

"Okay, I break the rules of magic. She just contradicts them. My point is, she's either figured out how to key her Fidelius to us without having to tell us the secret, or her Fidelius itself has collapsed for whatever reason… "

"Which is doubtful, Luna doesn't do sloppy work," Hermione replied.

"In which case she could be dead."

"That's unlikely. Luna's message indicated that she had been waiting. She might still be alive… though she would be immensely old. Maybe she got her hands on a Philosopher's Stone? I know you said that Dumbledore told you that Flamel destroyed it, but if anybody could manage to make a new one, Luna could."

"I'm not too sure I believe everything he ever said… for one thing, what the hell was that damned Stone even doing IN Hogwarts to begin with?" Harry asked.

"The safest place to keep it?" Hermione guessed, "Or maybe a trap for Voldemort?"

"Does it really matter anymore?"

"Not really, though it really wouldn't surprise me if Luna managed to make or find one."

"Of course not, she's just… Luna. I'm bringing the shuttle down."

They managed to settle the shuttle down near the tower and got out.

The tower's front door was closed, but a quick _Alohamora _dealt with the lock. Everything inside was covered in a thick layer of dust, which crunched audibly under their feet as they looked around.

"It looks like Luna fixed the place up well after the last time we were here. We left it in less than a savoury condition."

"This also doesn't bode well for Luna, Harry. Would she have let her house get into this state willingly?"

"Point. Let's check upstairs."

As they emerged into the upper floor, the first thing Harry saw was a large amount of machinery around the room; machinery that Harry was fairly sure shouldn't be in a magical house; computer banks, a small generator and a lot of other things.

"Ha… Harry…" Hermione murmured, prompting him to turn.

She was looking at a chair which looked like it had come out of a magazine titled _Crackpot Interrogation Chairs for You_, complete with wrist and ankle restraints and an odd cap thing evidently meant to fit over the head.

Piled haphazardly in the chair and on the floor around it were what Harry recognized at once as bones. _Human _bones. A completely fleshless skull topped off the macabre heap, sightless eyes gazing up at them while bare teeth grinned.

"Is that… Luna?"

**"No," **a voice said from behind them, **"Well, not anymore at any rate."**

They both whirled, magic coalescing around their hands as they turned to face a potential enemy… but there was no-one there. Only one of the computer banks with some kind of small circular pad on top… and on the pad lounged a tiny figure, barely a foot high, and dressed in a Hogwarts school uniform.

The small figure looked up from the minute magazine she was reading, revealing blonde hair and large, pale eyes. She looked barely out of school age, and beamed when she looked them in the face, **"Hello Harry Potter, Hermione Granger. It is a great pleasure to see you both again."**

"Luna?" asked Hermione blankly, "But… how?"

Luna closed her magazine and slipped it into her robes, **"It's a long story. Put it this way; soon after you disappeared, I had a vision that one day I would see you again. Neville understood… but he died a long time ago. When I began to turn old and wrinkly as well… I blame the Nargles… I realized it was likely that I would die long before I could see you again. So I came up with this idea after watching one of those science fiction films you introduced me to Hermione."**

"One of the…" Hermione began, and then realization dawned, "You turned yourself into an A.I.?!"

Luna nodded, **"That I did. Well… I didn't mean to. I meant to only turn part of my mind into the A.I. Instead, the machine tore my soul, my consciousness, everything that made me who I was out and transformed it all into the A.I. I have been here for the last fifty years, just waiting."**

Harry sighed, "Luna, we're sorry. If we'd had the choice, we'd have taken you with us."

**"It's alright, I understand. Ronald deserved what he got. But anyway," **she settled back down on her little podium, **"I understand you two have acquired a ship?"**

"Yes."

**"Do you need help? I'd like to come along."**

"That was never in question, Luna." Harry activated his omnitool and smiled as he held it out to her, "Hop in here."

Luna reached out and touched the omnitool, blinking out of sight. A second later her voice issued from the omnitool, **"My, there are a lot of pictures of Hermione in here!"**

Harry smacked his omnitool, "Keep out of there; those are private!"

**"Yes, I can see why. Very nice Princess Leia bikini, Hermione."**

Hermione made a spluttering sound and went brilliantly pink.

"Anyway," said Harry, checking his omnitool's time readout, "I think we should start heading back, we have to meet our other new crew."

"Alright," said Hermione, "What should we do about this place?"

"Leave it as is, but I would either come back for the equipment or destroy it… if misused it could be exceptionally dangerous," Luna's voice came from the omnitool.

"Right. Let's lock the door behind us," said Harry as they headed back downstairs.

-LatS-

Arriving back at the shuttle port, they found three people awaiting them alongside Joker, each with a large foot locker for their clothing and possessions at their side.

As the shuttle touched down, Hermione opened the hatch and smiled at Joker before addressing the others on the dock, "Greetings. I take it you three are our new crewmen?"

The only one of the group wearing armour sniffed, "Obviously, would I be here otherwise?"

Harry appeared at Hermione's shoulder, "And you are?"

The woman looked indignant, "Commander Jennifer Shepard, hero of the Skyllian Blitz? Have you been living under a rock?"

Harry frowned, "No, just not really paying attention. Now get your gear onto the shuttle and strap yourself in. You two?" he addressed the others.

The male straightened up and saluted, "Engineer Kenneth Donnelly, and this is Gabby." He had a thick Scottish accent as he smiled at Harry and Hermione, "It'll be a pleasure to serve with you, sir."

"That's Engineer _Gabriella _Daniels," cut in the woman, saluting as well, "Likewise, it'll be a pleasure to serve on your ship."

Harry nodded, "Neither of you is averse to taking orders from a batarian, are you? I need to know because our head engineer is a batarian."

"A batarian?" Shepard growled, "You have one of those… _terrorists_… on your ship?"

"Not everyone is cut from the same cloth; if I thought he was a terrorist, he wouldn't have gotten within two thousand feet of my ship, never mind her engineering section." Harry said.

"If you can't take orders and work with whom I want you to… tell me now, and I'll find someone who will."

Shepard looked furious, but nodded obediently and began dragging her foot locker onto the ship.

_"Going to have our hands full with that one,"_Harry and Hermione thought as one.

"Anyway," Hermione said aloud, "If you're okay with having a batarian as your superior, welcome aboard."

A noncommittal shrug was the best they were going to get, it seemed.

"Want to fly back, Joker?" Harry asked.

"Why not… might be able to give you a smoother ride if I'm lucky."

_"Yeah, and my bones will let me tap dance," _he thought sarcastically.

The Kodiak was perhaps the most universally despised transport in the galaxy, it would seem.

Joker apparently enjoyed his first introduction to the _Argenti Cygnus_; as the Kodiak was moving slowly alongside the large ship, the new pilot was chattering away about how much he liked it.

"Two years from laying down her keel, she was both a joy and a pain to build," Harry remarked proudly.

"Well you did a very good job of it."

"Mm." He leaned forwards and tapped the console, "Phoenix, you there?"

_"Reading you loud and clear, Captain!"_

"Open the loading bay hatch, please?"

_"You got it. We taking on passengers?"_

"Two new engineers for Chimera, a liaison with the Alliance and a new pilot for the main ship."

_"Oh, good. I keep thinking I'm going to end up crashing this thing into something. Is he good?"_

"Better than us. He's flying the Kodiak right now and we haven't had that many bumps."

_"Well that's encouraging, but it doesn't say much."_

"HEY! Remember who pays your salary, you enviro-suited smart-mouthed tech junkie!"

There was laughter on the other end before the connection severed.

"Stupid insubordinate…" Harry descended into dark mutters as Joker expertly flew the Kodiak into the opening launch bay and settled it down.

He set them down with the slightest of bumps, really more of a love tap.

"Well, you're more than qualified," said Harry, "The bridge is up on the second level."

-LatS-

"I think I'm in love," Joker said once he sat down and had a chance to study the incredibly intuitive control layout.

"Yeah, she has that effect," said Phoenix fondly from the next seat.

"I don't think I like how close that alliance cruiser is to us though, makes me nervous," Joker commented.

"That's been shadowing us ever since we arrived. Don't worry about it."

"Alright then, Captain, where to?"

"Well," said Harry, "I think now that we have an adequate pilot and engineering crew, we should run weapons tests."

Meanwhile…

Jennifer Shepard growled as she set her foot locker on the deck none too gently.

"How dare he…" she growled, "How _dare _he be so insolent!"

"He dares, because he's seen worse," It was at this point that Kasumi Goto made an entrance, leaning casually against the doorframe with an apple in hand.

Shepard scowled, "What do _you _want?"

Kasumi took a bite of the apple, "Merely to advise you that the captain brooks no bullshit aboard his ship. If you have a problem with one of the crew, either keep it to yourself or take it to him, but don't bother when you don't have any basis for your claims beyond your own stereotypes."

Shepard did not respond; she simply glared.

Kasumi shrugged, "Fine, don't listen if you want. But it will make your time on this ship much smoother. I'm going up to the bridge." She disappeared from sight.

"What does that bitch know?" Shepard muttered.

Up on the bridge, they were installing Luna into the primary computer core.

"Hope there's enough room, we didn't exactly design it with having you inside it in mind," Harry commented.

**"Oh, it'll be fine," **Luna's airy voice said as she shimmered into view on the console's screen, **"It might be worth investing in some pads like the one you found me on, however. Maybe we could even install them around the ship?"**

Harry nodded, "We do have a nearly unlimited budget, so it's possible. Do you still remember where you got those pads?"

**"I designed most of the hardware myself, though I did use the early omnitool interface emitters as a base template," **Luna replied.

"Alright. If you give me a list of the components you used to make the hardware, I'll ask Fitle for a requisition."

**"I can e-mail that to him now." **Luna touched her hand to the side of her head and then smiled, **"Done. Is there anything else you'd like me to do?"**

"Yes," said Harry, "I think now that we have a good pilot and a decent engineering crew, we should start performing weapons tests. Tell Valkyrie to get us a heading to a deserted system."

**"Will do," **Luna shimmered out of sight.

-LatS-

"Here we are, Captain," said Joker, "Macedon system in the Artemis Tau cluster; completely deserted as per your instructions."

"Right," said Harry, standing beside the helm, "You calmed down after your first meeting with Luna yet?"

Luna had decided to be mischievous; she had popped up from Joker's console at eye level and yelled, "BOO!" as loudly as she could.

Joker had jumped so badly he fractured his knee on the underside of the console, which Hermione had been forced to fix while Harry gave Luna a quick lecture on not frightening their pilot into breaking bones.

Luna was presently in the lower decks, consulting with the new engineering crew on the status of their weapon systems.

"It's a simple breech/loader system, one piece, it loads the round, closing in the process," Luna said, describing the basics of the MAC's mechanical operation, "The round drops in from above and then the loading mechanism cycles shut before firing."

"Yes," said Chimera with some amusement, "I do believe I studied how this thing would work in detail after I started down here." He turned around, "Donnelly, get one of those fancy suits on and get up that ladder into the array, I want to make sure this thing will fire properly before we start and end up blasting this ship a blowhole at the back."

Ken nodded, "Sir!" and headed for the suit rail.

Because the MAC employed a series of high-retention capacitors to power the MAC arcs, the capacitors were prone to some overspill, which often led to bolts of electricity hitting things inside the MAC array at random. The effect was such that anybody not wearing a Faraday suit inside the array was liable to end up a little charred.

The electromagnetic fields also rendered any tech inside the deck's protective shielding defunct while the capacitors were active, so they were required to shut the MAC down before attempting any kind of maintenance.

"I feel like I'm wearing a suit of chain mail," Ken commented as he finished putting the suit on and started up the access ladder.

"Yes, you're a regular knight of old," joked Gabby as he struggled up the ladder into the airlock which would take him into the main MAC array.

-LatS-

"Alright, we'll test the MAC first," said Hermione, examining a data pad, "Lowest power setting Joker, and you take manual control. I need to work out how our aim differs between you eyeballing and Luna giving you a firing solution."

"Shooting from the hip then… ok; just need something to fire at… there we go… a nice asteroid."

**"Attention crew of the **_**Argenti Cygnus**_**, please extinguish all cigarettes and strap yourselves in. Test firing of the Mass Accelerator will commence in 5… 4… 3… 2…"**

Chimera's voice broke over the communicator, _"Captain, don't fire! Donnelly's still in the…" _but it was too late.

**"…1… Firing."**

Below in the Engineering department, they felt a soft concussion run through the floor beneath their feet and heard a loud yelp from above their heads.

A horrible second later, the hatch swung open and Ken fell through it, smoking and somewhat singed but otherwise very much alive.

"The suit saved me! Did anyone get the number of that elcor…?" he burbled before passing out on the floor.

Chimera palmed his face, "Daniels, help me sit him up and get him out of the suit. It's okay sir, Donnelly's alive."

"…" Harry went to say something before deciding nothing he could say… would really quite cover what just happened.

"Wow," commented Joker, "That asteroid's so many floating pebbles now."

It definitely was.

It also wasn't quite what Harry was focused on.

"Commander!" said Valkyrie, who had commandeered the communications panel after noticing something, "I'm picking up a distress signal from the planet below us!"

"Bring it up," Harry ordered.

_"…quarian ship Kyten. We've been… …by slavers; anyone who can hear this, please help us!"_

Harry immediately took charge, "Phoenix, go get one of the _Cygnet _shuttles ready to fly. Hermione, you're in charge here."

As Phoenix ran to one elevator and punched the button for the shuttle bay, Harry headed for the other, going upstairs to grab his Locust.

The _Cygnet_was lowered into its launch cradle for boarding, and munitions were loaded into the armament the shuttle presently found being equipped onto it, normally they weren't armed, but the designer had had the foresight to design weapons-carrying capability into the shuttle.

"Launch!" Harry commanded, Phoenix immediately engaging the mass effect "catapult" and engaging the inertial dampeners as the shuttle streaked through the open cargo bay doors and banked down towards the planet.

Instead of a barely controllable remote guided missile, it was more along the lines of white knuckles.

"Well," said Harry, once the initial feeling of being crushed into their seats had faded, "That was definitely better than the last time. Luna, how are we doing?"

Luna's face flashed up on the comm screen at his elbow, **"We are cruising at about two hundred miles an hour. The location of the distress call is another forty kilometres dead ahead."**

"Any information on the enemy position?" Phoenix asked.

**"The **_**Argenti Cygnus**_**' sensors pick up snipers in towers all around the main building with at least four heavy vehicles and around three dozen foot soldiers. The **_**Cygnet **_**should be fast enough to lay down a bombing run on the foot soldiers and thus remove the major threat before they can react."**

"Understood. Thanks Luna."

**"I do my best," **she disappeared.

"Captain, a question. Are you aware of the history between quarians and A.I.?"

"No,"

"Then while we wait to get to the enemy base, let me explain."

-LatS-

The slaver band were just chatting over the potential prices they could get for the quarian ship they had captured when _something _shot over the top of the hill off to the south and everything went to hell in a hand basket.

Whatever their attacker was, it screeched over their heads and loosed a hail of missiles, which arced all around the base and slammed against the bases of the sniper towers, sending their occupants plunging to their deaths in the wreckage of their perches as the heavy vehicles tried to work out what direction to fire in.

The attacking enemy came again, and this time the dusty ground kicked up in a long strip as the automatic cannons cut through the slavers currently scrambling for cover.

"One more pass ought to do it… I want to take out that vehicle, its got a nasty piece of ordnance on board," Phoenix remarked.

"All four of them do. Let's test the pulse cannons."

The _Cygnet _swung about on a high parabolic arc, and came in nose first.

"There they are! Get them, get them, get them!" yelled one of the slavers, pointing.

The Grizzly raised its main cannon, but it didn't save it. A projectile flew from the small craft's underbelly and struck the Grizzly dead-centre, gutting the vehicle in seconds and overloading its power cells, reducing the rest to twisted shrapnel.

"Let's go say hi, set us down on the ridge," Harry instructed, Phoenix obeying as Harry climbed out of the co-pilot's chair and headed into the back.

"I'm going to head back up to the ship," Phoenix said, "If any of the quarians are injured, we're going to want to load the shuttle with some sterile field generators."

"Good idea. Bring another shuttle as well if you need to."

Phoenix nodded and tossed him a breathing mask. Once Harry had fixed it over his face, he opened the passenger hatch and let him climb out, closing the hatch and taking off immediately afterwards.

"Well this isn't exactly my brightest idea ever... then again neither was taking on Old Snake-Face mano-a-mano way back when…" Harry remarked to himself.

Checking his Locust, he began making his way down.

-LatS-

Inside the base, three slavers were watching the front door. They had heard the sounds of battle outside, but when they had died away they had reasoned that their boys had won but had suffered radio damage and couldn't report in.

The sudden CLANG as the door flexed inwards with a conspicuous fist-shaped dent at the centre quickly disabused them of that notion.

Outside, Harry drew back his arm and recharged the magic surrounding it. The tactic he was exploiting revolved around unleashing a Bombardment Hex at the point of impact, thus greatly amplifying his "punches".

Pulling his arm back from the second strike, he inspected his work. The door was now promisingly dented; it wasn't going to survive more than a couple more blows.

Inside, the slavers watched as the door visibly deformed under the hammer weight blows being levelled at it.

"Should we… try and reinforce it or something?" asked one.

His friend opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment there was a rending crash and the door broke straight off its hinges and flew across the hall, pinning two of the slavers behind it as it crashed into the opposite wall.

The third gaped at the destruction before hearing a clicking sound to one side. He turned, and found himself staring down the barrel of a Locust submachine gun.

"Knock, knock," said the intruder, and pulled the trigger.

In the sub basement… the soon to be slaves huddled, as the sounds of intense fighting above filtered down.

After about ten minutes, they heard footsteps approaching and the door seemed to peel away like the top of a plastic box. A tall human stood there, biotics glowing around his left arm and a Locust submachine gun held in his right. He gave the room a quick once-over before addressing the quarians, "Hey, I got your distress signal."

Captain Ceya'Lana vas Kyten approached him, "You're here to help us? Then please, you have to find her!"

Harry dropped his biotics and held up his hand, "Find who?"

"One of the girls!" said the quarian in a panic, "They… they took her as an example!"

Harry swore and raised his omnitool to his mouth, "Luna, I need you to run a scan of the base. Look for a lone quarian!"

_**"At once, Harry," **_there was a pause before Luna spoke again, _**"Harry, she is back up the stairs; you missed her door on your way. She's with four slavers."**_

Harry nodded and lowered his omnitool, "All the slavers I found are dead; their weapons are stacked up at the top of the stairs. Go outside and wait; my shuttle will be back in a few minutes and then we'll get you out of here."

Ceya nodded and beckoned to her crew, who filed out of the room carrying or supporting their wounded. Harry caught her arm as she passed, "Don't worry about your wounded. My shuttle will have sterile field generators on board for you, and we can treat your injuries on the ship."

Ceya nodded again, "Thank you."

Harry turned and ran back up the stairs.

When he arrived at the door Luna had mentioned, he didn't bother opening it the way he had been before. He simply spun on the spot and kicked it in.

Inside, an asari was coldly watching three batarians attempt to corner a cowering quarian girl against the opposite wall. She turned as Harry entered, though she had no time to react before Harry yanked her towards him and placed his Locust against her head, "Leave the quarian alone or your buddy gets it!"

The batarians looked at him for a long moment, then laughed and turned back to the quarian. One reached out and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her off the ground.

"FUCK!" Harry swore, pistol whipping the asari in the side of the head before reaching out with biotics and grabbing the batarian holding the girl by the neck.

For a second, nothing happened… then the batarian dropped her and began clawing at his head, howling with pain. As his friends watched, aghast, his head suddenly imploded, spraying gore all over his surroundings. Before either of them could do anything about it, Harry's biotics wrenched one into the air and snapped his neck as the other took almost a full clip of Locust rounds into the chest plate, throwing him back against the wall.

Once it was all over, the girl lay curled up and almost crying on the floor, until a hand touched her shoulder. She flinched.

"Shh," a calming voice said, "I'm not going to hurt you. Are you okay?"

She raised her head, seeing a tall male with black hair and green eyes standing over her, "Y-Yes."

"Good," said the man, waving his hand slightly. Much to her surprise, all the blood and assorted body bits covering her enviro-suit vanished. "Can you walk?"

The girl shook her head, and then she squeaked as the man lifted her into his arms and, holding her cradled like a baby, carried her from the room. A moment later he returned and lifted the unconscious asari with his biotics, levitating her along behind him like a doll.

-LatS-

The quarians were amassed outside, all of them armed as three shuttles swooped in towards the base and settled in the dirt.

"Ah, you made it," said Harry as he emerged from the building, prompting the quarian captain to turn and run towards him as she saw the girl in his arms.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes," said the girl, "I… he saved me before they could do anything to me."

Ceya nodded and looked up at him, "I am indebted to you for saving my charge, Mr…?"

"Potter. Harry Potter."

"Mr Potter, thank you."

Smiling and still cradling the girl in his arms, Harry raised his omnitool to his mouth, "Phoenix, you there?"

_"Here, captain. You got all the quarians?"_

"Yes. We have wounded though so hurry up and open the hatches."

The shuttles immediately opened their hatches, Phoenix, Valkyrie and Kasumi appearing and beckoning groups of quarians aboard.

Harry boarded Phoenix's shuttle, still carrying the young girl and followed by the captain, who tilted her head slightly when she saw Phoenix but said nothing.

"Are you ready to go captain?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, Phoenix. Let's go." He settled the girl into a chair and dragged the still-unconscious asari in after them, "I'm going to interrogate this one though; I think she was the leader of those slavers."

"She is," said Ceya, "She gloated that she'd caught us; apparently quarians fetch a good price."

"Right," said Harry as he shoved the asari unceremoniously under a seat to keep her out of the way, "Now let's move, Phoenix. We have wounded on board, remember."

"Right away, captain."

One by one, the three _Cygnets _took off and banked upwards into the sky. In less than a minute, all three were gone.

-LatS-

"That's the last one," said Harry, three hours later.

He and Hermione had been hard at work as soon as they returned to the ship, helping Kanara (who had displayed a remarkable level of medical knowledge for a krogan) stabilize and care for the wounded quarians. She was busy running scans on the uninjured quarians, making sure they were all alright, while Harry and Hermione administered medigel, antibiotics, and immune supplements and even repaired the suits with a few quick jabs of magic. Harry was working with one hand for most of it; the still somewhat frightened quarian girl had not let his hand go since they had arrived back on the _Cygnus_.

Now, they had finished helping the quarians and set them up two rooms with sterile field generators in which to bunk. Those they could not fit into the large rooms were given rooms to share, the captain almost demanding to share with the girl Harry had rescued.

"I never thanked you for saving me, did I?" said the girl as Harry finished setting up her bed and started opening and preparing a small sachet of lightweight sedative so that she could sleep. Kanara had suggested it after Harry told her of the situation he found the girl in, and told Harry to do it since the girl would be more relaxed with the human who saved her than a hulking krogan.

Harry shrugged; intent on his work, only to be surprised when the girl gave his arm a slight hug, "Thank you."

Harry smiled, gesturing her onto the bed as he finished dissolving the sedative into water and added a straw, "That's alright. Just stay out of trouble. You know, I never got your name."

The girl took a long drink from the water, her captain seated on the other bed to supervise, "It's Tali. Tali'Zorah… nar… Rayya…"

Harry caught the glass just before it spilled and set it on the bedside table. He nodded to the captain, "I'll leave her to you then, captain."

The woman inclined her head, "Thank you again, Captain Harry Potter vas Argenti Cygnus. Keelah se'lai."

Harry nodded back to her and left the room, "Goodnight."

**(A/N: And we're done! This chapter took a remarkably short time after the little setback… Though it might have taken less time had my cowriter not been insistent on writing irrelevant KOTORxHP boards. *evil stare* Anyway, until next time folks! Sorry there was no lemon this time but I'm sure there'll be one early in the next chapter! Tune in next time for Thessia and the Citadel. Leonineus, OUT!)**


	5. C4: It's All in the Mind

Lightning among the Stars

Chapter Four: It's All in the Mind

**(A/N: So I was happy with the good reception the previous chapter received, and that spurred me to start writing again the same day, as opposed to in the next few days as I originally intended. Enjoy the chapter.)**

**(A/N 2: Oh yes, something else. The Featuring list is changing a little. One asterisk denotes a character who looks exactly as she does in the game, which makes it easier for me than, say, imagining a blue version of Keira Knightley. On the other hand, characters of whom I do not know the facial models are in a list below that. For those, simply refer to their page on the wiki. If you know WHO the facial model for any of them is, input would be appreciated. Now that I think about it, I'm going to have to start removing those who've already featured on the List.)**

**(A/N 3: Oh and a third thing for those of you reading this on FFN. I've now added the link to the uncensored version of Lightning to my profile page since some people were having difficulty finding the site it is posted on.)**

**(A/N 4: And finally a shout out to the reader under the penname of "Galdric"... I can't answer your questions if you've disabled the private messaging feature for FFN. Enable it and then send me a message, and I'll answer your questions.)**

Featuring:  
>Clémence Poésy as Tali'Zorah nar Rayya<br>Rana McAnear as Samara*  
>Keira Knightley as Matriarch Benezia<br>Jillian Murray as Liara T'Soni*  
>Olivia Wilde as Yanis<p>

Aria T'Loak  
>Shiala<br>Falere  
>Rila<p>

"Care to explain, Phoenix?"

Harry and Hermione were sitting in the lounge area of their room, Phoenix sitting across from them.

There had been a minor incident earlier that day; when Phoenix had passed by the quarian girl Tali'Zorah in the mess and told Chimera a joke in passing, she had called him out by name.

Phoenix going rigid and flinching had given Harry some concern, so he had called the sniper up to his and Hermione's room for a talk.

Now, the quarian sighed and put his hand over his mask before speaking.

"Seven years ago, I was a Marine in the Migrant Fleet, serving on the _Sylla _in the Heavy Fleet under Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema. Tali knows me because we were born on the same ship, the _Rayya_, and I was sort of her big brother analogue until I went on my Pilgrimage at twenty-one, looking out for her since her mother died when she was young and her father... well, Admiral Rael was never around enough to look after Tali properly. So it was me and her Auntie Raan keeping an eye on her most of the time."

"So why are you here now then?" asked Hermione.

"I'm getting to that. Anyway, I was always pretty gifted with tech even among quarians, so Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh, who leads what's basically our Science Fleet, wanted a piece of me even though I wanted to be a Marine in the Heavy Fleet. She and Admiral Gerrel worked out a deal; I could serve on the _Sylla _but Admiral Xen was allowed to request my time for weapon tests and such."

"So what happened?"

"Again, I'm getting to it. Now, one day Admiral Xen and some technicians brought over a new weapon which fired electrically-charged harpoons. The other admirals came along too, intending to view the demonstration. The weapon... well, the recoil was enough that my aim was thrown off when I pulled the trigger. The harpoon went off target and punched straight through the leg of Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay."

Hermione covered her mouth in horror.

"Yeah," said Phoenix, "So, I fled. Ran back to my quarters, left a note, and stole a shuttle to get off the Fleet. That's the reason I got twitchy when Tali called me by name. It's not just that I left without troubling to say goodbye, Admiral Shala'Raan and Tali's Auntie Raan are one and the same. I shot her aunt in the leg, and for all I know it got infected."

Harry sat and digested this for a minute before he said, "Very well, you may go."

Phoenix nodded and left the room.

-LatS-

"So, the self-imposed exile finds himself in the company of his ex-peers once more, I see," a voice said as Phoenix walked out of the elevator into the armoury on the loading deck.

Turning, he saw Captain Ceya'Lana looking at him, leaning against one of the workbenches, "Yes, I suppose. Funny how things work out, isn't it?"

"Yes..." she said, moving away from the wall and approaching him, "You know that Admiral Raan holds no grudge, correct?"

Phoenix gave no sign of a response beyond a slight tilt of his head.

"I will take that as a no," said Ceya, "The Kyten was part of the Patrol Fleet... she survived that event with a large scar, a minor fever and a funny story to tell children in the Fleet."

Phoenix did not reply.

"I contacted them, under the supervision of Captain Potter's comm officer. They were relieved to know that all hands on the Kyten were safe, even if some were lightly injured. I also mentioned you, or rather my suspicion as to your identity. This was their response." She held out her omnitool and an image of the four admirals appeared in front of her.

_"Tiqa," _growled Admiral Han'Gerrel, _"I don't know why you ran. It was clearly an accident."_

_"Indeed," _concurred Admiral Shala'Raan, _"I don't hold a grudge."_

_"Tiqa'Lasarr," _Admiral Daro'Xen butted in, _"If you return to the Fleet, we can promise you reinstatement. The Science Fleet is lesser for the loss of your talents."_

Phoenix drew a shaky breath and looked up at Ceya, "Tell them... I'm touched by the sentiment, but I don't think I could go back to the Fleet and look Admiral Raan in the eye without having the urge to shoot myself in the foot." He turned away.

"Tiqa," said Ceya, catching his arm, "At least consider their offer. Tali missed you after you left. This is the first time she's seen you in six years."

"I know that but..."

"So that's it then? You're just a coward!" said Ceya angrily, "You're scared! Scared of what you think you've become!"

"What I've become?" repeated Phoenix, "I shot one of the admirals in the leg! I'm lucky she didn't die! As it is I can barely look at Tali now without feeling a desire to bang my head against a wall, knowing I could have killed her aunt!"

"Curious: Is there a problem here?"

Both quarians turned to see the hulking form of Myxtin watching them as she passed on her way to an inventory check.

"No, Myxtin, it's alright." Phoenix said, turning back to Ceya, "I know you think badly of me for running like a coward, but it's not a matter of fear. It's a matter of my own honour." He turned and strode into the elevator, touching the button for the crew deck.

Ceya stayed in the armoury for a long minute before she sighed and turned towards the elevator herself.

-LatS-

"Harry, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?"

Harry and Hermione looked up from their computers to see Kasumi entering the room. The sway to her hips and the smirk on her face immediately told both of them _exactly_what she wanted.

"I'll be downstairs; I need to check on how the new crew are settling in," said Hermione.

"Sure, I'll join you in a while," Harry replied, and as the brunette exited, Kasumi approached him and smirked widely as she threw her hood back.

**smut scene redacted: refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile**

He carried her to the cot Hermione had set up one night during the construction of the ship, she'd seen him asleep at the desk and came back with a camp bed.

They had never got around to folding it back up, a fact that Harry silently thanked Hermione for as he laid Kasumi down and covered her over with a blanket.

He had of course cast cleaning charms on them both by this point and sat down to watch their little thief sleep.

"Get in bed master?" Kasumi asked. "I like to cuddle after sex, you know that,"

"Okay," Harry grinned, as she curled around him after transferring to the large double bed.

**smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile**

"Well," said Kasumi, "That was fun."

"Yeah," said Liselle, "I vote for my mother to get some of that at some point. But can somebody take these off?" said Liselle, rolling over and reaching out her cuffed hands behind her in supplication.

Kasumi quickly inserted and turned the key, returning the cuffs to her box as she grinned over at Harry, "So... repeat performance some time?"

"Oh hell fucking yes!" was Liselle's response.

"Right," said Harry, "Everybody dressed; we've got stuff to do."

They all dressed in silence and went their separate ways.

-LatS-

"Harry, can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

Harry turned as he exited the bridge to find Valkyrie looking at him, "Sure, in here."

They walked into the conference room and Harry closed the door.

"Harry," Valkyrie began, "I need to go to Thessia."

"Why?"

"I haven't told you my story, have I?"

"No..."

"Then listen carefully. Like all Ardat-Yakshi discovered at a young age, I was taken from my family to a monastery on the fringes of asari space and placed there. It was peaceful and quiet, a haven to keep us safe from the galaxy and the galaxy safe from us. Until..."

She paused and looked up at him, "When I had just turned two hundred, my monastery began organizing supervised trips to Thessia in the company of justicars, so that we could see our homeworld. While there, I overheard some batarians talking."

"Then what?"

"I'm getting to it. The batarians were discussing a plot, a plot to kill the asari High Council when they passed in an armoured skycar."

Harry nodded, "Right."

"I realized I had little time; I could see the car in the distance and I knew my justicar handler wouldn't believe me even if I told her. So I watched and waited."

"I take it the plan didn't work?"

"No... when the car drew level with us I tripped my handler and used my biotics to jump from the railing just as the missile was fired from the tenement above our position. I landed on the car's hood and turned around just in time to wrap the missile in a biotic bubble. It damn near killed me; containing the force of the explosion overextended my biotic abilities so much I ended up spending two weeks in a coma." She chuckled, "The justicar was the first thing I saw when I woke up, and she wasted no time in slapping me silly for being so stupid. Had it been any other justicar, they would've shot me dead as soon as the threat to the High Council was averted."

Her expression turned somewhat wistful, "Then the High Council turned up. At first they were grateful, until they saw the justicar. When they discovered that I was an Ardat-Yakshi, they were amazed; I had risked my own life to save theirs, never mind that my handler had standing orders to execute me on the spot if I showed any sign of causing trouble."

"It took them a long while to figure out what to do with me; technically I should have been killed so that I couldn't cause harm to any innocent civilians, but the fact that I had saved their lives couldn't be overlooked either. Eventually they decided that I should be halfway rewarded; they let me venture out into the galaxy with my justicar handler as a sort of black operative, handling all the crap that the asari government couldn't be linked back to. I killed more than a few rogue Ardat-Yakshi in my time."

"I take it this story doesn't end well since the only asari I saw you associating with after we met were Aria and Liselle."

"I want to ask a question about Liselle when we're done here, but anyway; the batarian cell from Thessia caught wind of our location. They tricked us into an ambush... which ultimately killed my justicar friend."

"You avenged her I assume?" Harry inquired.

"Yes, but I'll get to that in a minute. Anyway, I couldn't go back into asari space without my justicar; that was one of the conditions for my access to the rest of the galaxy. If I ventured back into asari space without my justicar, I would be killed on sight by any other justicar in the vicinity."

"So you went to Omega."

"Yes. Remembering a message I got from my sister saying she was moving to Omega, I set off in that direction to see if I could find her. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that she was in charge there."

Harry allowed himself a chuckle and she continued, "So I basically became a deep-cover operative. After sending a message to the asari High Council telling them what I was doing, I settled in as Aria's enforcer, keeping my ears out for any threats to our people and reporting to the asari High Council every so often. Then, last year some time, Aria told me to investigate news of a quarian freelancer on Omega."

"Phoenix."

"Correct. We must have fought for _hours _when I finally found him. Finally we called it a draw and he told me why he was on Omega; a batarian cell threatening the security of the Migrant Fleet. Then Chimera apparently got wind of it and came to us himself, surrendering information on the cell. Turns out they weren't just any terrorist cell; batarian operatives trained to work behind enemy lines to destabilize their infrastructure from within. Their attempts on the asari High Council's lives was one such tactic. It also explains how they were active as long as they were."

"So when we met..."

"I was avenging my justicar friend, yes. Hence why I was tormenting those batarians so much."

"I see. So now you want to go back to Thessia?"

"Yes. On your ship, I think I should be safe on the journey back."

"Very well. Shall I set course for Thessia then?"

"That would be nice. I'll send a message ahead to let them know you're coming."

Harry nodded and left.

"Oh and captain? Explain to me why my niece is borderline floating around the ship with a huge grin on her face?"

Harry smirked back at her, "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies, Valkyrie. Later."

Valkyrie stared at the door for a long five minutes before she swore loudly and inventively in the asari tongue. "Son of a varren... This is one of those moments when I _hate _being an Ardat-Yakshi!"

-LatS-

"How are things going down here, Chimera?"

The batarian looked up from his console and smirked, "Very well, Captain. I hear we're heading to Thessia, and I'd like to do some shopping there... Deep-Fried! Get me that datapad!" He barked this last in the direction of the two human engineers at one end. As Daniels giggled, Donnelly grumbled and began looking for something.

"Deep-Fried?" Harry echoed, a note of amusement in his voice.

"Yes," said Chimera, "You remember the first test of the MAC? When Donnelly was still in the array when we fired?"

"Yes... what of it?"

"Well, he staggered out of the array a few minutes after we fired looking a little toasted. So we now call him Deep-Fried Donnelly down here."***

"And I hate it," grumbled Donnelly as he walked up to them and held out a datapad to Chimera.

Chimera cuffed him on the head, "Quiet, you. So this is what I wanted to show you, Captain. I'd like to buy some of these for the ship when we reach Thessia."

Harry nodded, "Understood, you have permission to go ashore on Thessia, provided their security allows it. If they don't, we can take them with us."

"Thanks, Captain."

-LatS-

The trip to Thessia was actually relatively calm and they easily acquired a spacedock for the ship outside the capital of Serrice as Valkyrie had apparently sent a message ahead.

Once they were docked, most of the crew disembarked. Fitle Nix and Myxtin were going off to find anyone who needed a cargo transported off Thessia, Chimera was going off to find some parts to make some modifications to the ship, Phoenix had gone off looking for weapons and weapon mods, Kasumi and Liselle had gone clothes shopping of all things (Kasumi with strict instructions _not _to succumb to kleptomania) and Harry and Hermione opted to escort Valkyrie to the High Council's tower.

"A beautiful world," Harry remarked.

"Yes..." said Valkyrie wistfully, but before she could expound on this line of explanation a tall asari in red armour stepped out in front of them, "Uh oh."

"What is it?"

"Justicar."

"...Didn't you say those were the guys who wanted to kill you?"

"Yes. Yes, they are. Justicar Samara, it's an honour to meet you."

"Where is your handler?" the justicar asked.

"Dead, some years ago."

"I see. In that case..." Biotic energy erupted around the justicar's body and she hurled a biotic Warp at Valkyrie.

Harry stopped it dead in midair, "Hey! I'd prefer if you _didn't _attack my comms officer, thank you very much!"

A barrier sprang up between them, blocking further attacks.

"We take a dim view on attacks against friends, for ANY reason," the woman stated, a thin edge of steel in her words as she held her hand raised.

Samara opened her mouth to respond, but before she could Harry's biotics flared and she suddenly found herself held off the ground in a strong stasis field.

"Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot... I'm Captain Potter of the _Argenti Cygnus_," he was NOT happy.

"Justicar Samara. Sworn to kill rogue Ardat-Yakshi such as her."

"Define rogue," Hermione challenged.

"Any Ardat-Yakshi outside a building designated as a monastery and not in the company of a justicar handler is considered rogue. By my Code, I am sworn to kill such individuals."

"Does that include ones operating under the full knowledge and approval of the asari High Council?" Hermione challenged further.

"She was originally accompanied by a justicar. That classified her as not rogue. Now, however..."

"Then we will be having quite the problem here," Harry commented.

"Harry," said Hermione, "I have an idea. Let's go see the asari High Council... and you might want to bring her so that she doesn't try to stab us in the back."

"I think that's a wonderful idea, I take attacks on my person or yours even less well than attacks on someone under my protection..." Harry replied, as the asari was floated in front of them.

-LatS-

"Operative Valkyrie here to see the asari High Council," said Valkyrie to the secretary outside, who gave Harry and the floating Samara a curious look before nodding and standing up.

"Ah, Valkyrie," said one of the Councillors when they walked in, "We have been expecting you... but who are your friends, and why is one of them dangling Justicar Samara with biotics, upside down?"

Valkyrie turned to look at Harry, who was entertaining himself by flipping Samara over like a coin.

"Apparently the Captain of the ship I signed on with... takes a dim view on those who would try and kill one of his crew... for any reason,"

"So we see," said the asari drily, "Is there a reason they are here?"

"Actually, yes," said Hermione, "We've had an opportunity to talk to Valkyrie here, and we'd like to know some more information about Ardat-Yakshi. Why is it standard practice to lock them away and leave them there?"

"Because it is safer for all concerned."

"Not what I meant. Why not classify a ship as a monastery? That way the Ardat-Yakshi get to see the outside world and they can make themselves useful."

"From what Valkyrie has said, not all Ardat-Yakshi actively seek to... how to put this politely..." Hermione actually foundered for a way to put it that wouldn't come off as crude.

"Not all Ardat-Yakshi want to jump everybody's bones," deadpanned Valkyrie.

"Some of us are content to simply enjoy someone's companionship,"

After all, a relationship didn't _always _have to involve sex or melding or whatever the local equivalent became.

There was a very pregnant pause.

"...Seriously?" said Harry incredulously, "The asari have been running the galaxy for god knows how many millennia and that _never _occurred to you?"

"Evidently not," said Valkyrie, amused.

"My point is," said Hermione, "It's quite clear where Valkyrie is now. This means she's a target for every justicar. _Unless_ our ship, the _Argenti Cygnus_, is classified by _you _as a monastery, she won't be safe."

There was an even longer pause, then the asari looked at each other. Finally one was apparently elected as a spokesman, "Mr Potter, please release the justicar."

"Is she going to try killing my communications officer again?" he was entertaining thoughts of seeing how far she'd fly unassisted after a biotic toss if she was.

"I will stand down temporarily," said Samara calmly.

After Harry had let her down, the asari spoke again, "Samara, you are assigned to this ship as the overseer of the monastery. The ship _Argenti Cygnus _is now classified by this High Council as a monastery."

Hermione inclined her head, "We thank you, High Councillors. We will take our leave now."

-LatS-

Harry had instructed Samara to collect her few possessions and given her the coordinates to the _Cygnus_' dock, so when he, Hermione and Valkyrie arrived back at the dock alone they found Fitle Nix directing Kanara and the vorcha in carrying crates of supplies and cargo up onto the ship and stowing them away.

"Ah, Captain!" he wheezed when he saw them approaching, "You will be pleased to know that I found a cargo heading to the Citadel and was able to make an excellent deal with the owner for passage! We are being paid a princely sum to make sure the cargo reaches its destination."

"Good work Fitle," Hermione said, "Well done."

"Hermione? Care to explain?"

"Oh," said Hermione, "Well, I thought it would be a good idea for us to take odd jobs shifting cargo, to put a little more money in our coffers."

Harry thought about it for a second, "Hmm, yes I can see the reasoning in that. The funds from our little excursion to Bekenstein won't last forever. Good thinking."

Hermione smiled and turned to Valkyrie, "Valkyrie, would you mind going and setting up a room for Samara? Give her one of the other rooms as an office as well please."

Valkyrie nodded and headed off.

"We've got company," said Harry, and Hermione turned to see a large group of asari approaching, led by one in a brown robe with an odd headpiece.

"Can I help you?" said Harry, "This is a private dock."

The leading asari nodded courteously to him, "Are you the captain?"

"Yes. Captain Harry Potter of the _Argenti Cygnus_, at your service. And you are?"

The asari directly behind the leader frowned, "You will treat the Matriarch with the respect she is due!"

"Peace, Shiala. It was an honest mistake." The asari woman inclined her head, "Matriarch Benezia, at your service. This is Shiala, leader of my personal guard, and my daughter Dr. Liara T'Soni."

Harry's and Hermione's studies of asari culture from their Codexes had yielded little information about the importance of asari Matriarchs, but it was clear that this woman earned great respect from her fellows. "An honour, Matriarch," said Hermione.

"Likewise," she said before addressing Harry again, "Is this the ship the asari High Council classified as an Ardat-Yakshi monastery?"

Harry nodded, "News travels fast, I see. Yes, it is."

"I see. May we charter passage? I am seeing my daughter to a dig site for her next assignment, and I must confess to some curiosity about this mobile monastery myself."

Harry nodded, "Of course, though we will only be able to provide individual rooms for yourself and your daughter; your guard will have to bunk together in one of the very large rooms."

"That is alright."

"Lady Benezia," said Shiala firmly, "I would very much like to remain with you..."

"Also," said Harry calmly, "While they are on my ship, your guards will make themselves useful. My existing security team is overworked and while literally adaptable, they are not immune to the effects of exhaustion."

"What secu-" said Shiala, before she saw exactly _what _creatures were assisting in the loading of the ship, "VORCHA!"

Instantly the commandos moved to secure a perimeter around the Matriarch and her daughter while the vorcha and Kanara turned to stare.

Harry turned towards the ship and said, "Guys, it's cool; go back to work."

Turning to Shiala, he said, "I'll keep them out of your way if you want, but don't worry. They're loyal to Kanara and by extension me."

Benezia set her hand on Shiala's shoulder, "Relax, Shiala."

Shiala lowered her assault rifle and nodded, "Of course, Lady Benezia."

Harry took a step backwards and waved his hand towards the ship, "Shall I show you aboard, Matriarch?"

"Yes please... I would also like a tour of this unique vessel if you are amenable," Matriarch Benezia replied.

"I think we could arrange it," Harry replied agreeably, "If you would be so kind as to follow me..."

They made to head up towards the bridge, but then Luna shimmered into view beside Harry and made Benezia jump slightly.

"Matriarch," said Harry calmly, "I would like to introduce you to Luna."

**"Oh, hello ma'am,"** the hologram bowed. They had spent days installing emitters in the public areas of the ship so she could interact with the crew via something besides a wall monitor if desired. It was also possible for her to grow to a full size and walk along the corridor beside them if need be.

Benezia gave Harry a curious look, "She seems oddly... casual... for a V.I."

"She's not, Luna?" Hermione asked, having just appeared, walking up behind them carrying a datapad.

**"I am a fully _sentient _A.I. based off the mind of a very close friend of theirs, in essence I am the woman I am based off of, and thus no threat, I would sooner delete myself than even entertain the notion of considering harming them."** Luna spoke.

Benezia looked somewhat uneasy, but nodded, "I will give her the benefit of the doubt for now..."

"Thank you. Now, this is the bridge, it's a little more spacious than what we'd intended when we commissioned the design but functional, with room to expand as we need to," They entered the bridge of the _Argenti Cygnus _to see Jeff Moreau or 'Joker' as he insisted on being called, preparing the ship for departure.

"Captain, all consumables stores topped off as ordered, minor tweaks to our engines completed ahead of schedule, we're ready to go."

"Thanks Joker," Harry replied, activating his omnitool, " Phoenix, is Samara aboard yet?"

"She just arrived. Valkyrie is escorting her to show her her room and office."

"Alright. In that case make sure everything is stowed and start liftoff procedures."

"Captain," Valkyrie's voice cut in, "Samara says she wishes to speak with you."

"I'll be right down. Hermione, can you finish the Matriarch's tour and then set her up with some lodgings? I believe her guards already brought on all their luggage a while ago."

"Got it Harry."

As he walked out of the room, he heard Hermione say, "Has Harry shown you the shuttle bay yet?"

Harry walked out of the elevator on the crew deck and immediately saw Samara leaning on the upper veranda railing on the starboard side of the ship, so he headed for the stairs.

"What do you need, Samara?" he said as he reached her.

Samara turned to him and leaned on the railing, "Captain, I thank you for your hospitality. The room is very comfortable and the office is well-equipped."

Harry smiled, "I like my passengers and crew to feel welcome."

"I see. Well, in that case I have one request. Or rather, two."

"Speak."

Samara turned to scan the mess hall below, "I am nearly a thousand years old, Captain. I have been a justicar for over three centuries, ever since..."

"Samara, feel free to confide."

"I have three daughters. All of them Ardat-Yakshi like Valkyrie." She nodded towards the asari below, who was humming an indistinct tune to herself as she prepared a special meal for the quarians on board in the kitchen. "Two chose to live in seclusion in monasteries. The third refused to give up her freedom and fled. I became a justicar to hunt her down."

"So... your only goal now is to capture her and bring her to justice?"

"No, Captain. My eldest daughter Mirala has refused to listen to reason. Now the only fate that awaits her is death."

Harry turned to gaze at her, "If you had another option, would you consider it?"

Samara eyed him, "She is my daughter, no matter what she has become. That should give you your answer."

"Very well. Hermione and I are in possession of a unique form of biotics. One of our talents is that we can access a person's mind and, for want of a better word, reprogram them. We used it to great effect a month or more ago, when we coerced the leaders of Blood Pack, Blue Suns and Eclipse into following Aria T'Loak of Omega. If we were able to capture your daughter alive, would you be open to us using our talents on her?"

Samara blinked at him for a long moment, "That would be... most welcome. Not technically in accordance with the justicar Code, but also technically not in violation of it as my errant daughter would once more be in a monastery. Can you verify that it is permanent?"

"Aria has not contacted us with news that the merc gangs are getting uppity, so I would assume it is."

"Very well," she said, turning to him and holding out a hand, "Let this be our deal, in that case."

"Your second request?" Harry asked.

"Ah, yes. My other two daughters, Falere and Rila; I would like to collect them from their monastery and bring them aboard. Each has expressed a desire to see the galaxy before but have been deprived of that chance."

Harry thought it over. He would gain two more crew members and Samara would be more loyal to him in the long run. "Done," he said, "But I hope you understand that each will be required to pull their weight. What can they do?"

Samara smiled, "Rila has always been an avid collector of maps. Falere is more of a thespian."

"So navigator and comms officer?"

"That would be welcome."

"I agree. Give Luna the coordinates and we will set a course for the monastery."

Samara's smile widened into a genuine grin, her ice-cold façade temporarily breaking, "Be careful, Captain. Or I may owe you a favour."

"Would that be so bad?" Harry asked, a slight teasing tone in his voice, to take potential sting out of the words.

Samara blinked once before her cheeks coloured a little and she quickly walked back into her office and shut the door.

"My my," said Liselle as she sauntered past, "I've never seen a justicar blush like that before. Then again I've never seen a justicar before; their arrival on Omega usually means the daily death toll is about to spike. Later, Harry."

Liselle's hips and ass had a little more 'sway' to them as she turned the corner.

"Luna,"

The pale figure of his Hogwarts friend appeared behind him, thousands of motes of light coalescing into a recognizable form, **"Yes, Harry?"**

"Has Samara passed the coordinates to you yet?"

**"Yes, she has."**

"Pass them onto Joker. Tell him we're picking up crew."

**"Right away, Harry,"**

Joker had them on their way in short order.

-LatS-

The _Argenti Cygnus _dropped out of FTL speeds in the Mesana system, Nimbus Cluster, and moved smoothly down towards Lesuss.

Samara was at the comms console, "Lesuss monastery, this is Justicar Samara requesting permission to land."

A musical voice responded, "Justicar Samara, this is Matriarch Gallae. It's a pleasure to hear from you. Your daughters have missed you."

"Yes, that's partly why I'm here. I need to speak with you and my daughters about a custody transfer."

"A... custody transfer? But why? Your daughters have been exemplary while here!"

"Peace, I am simply transferring them to a new monastery so that I may be closer to them, all will be explained on landing."

"Very well, I eagerly await your arrival. I will tell Falere and Rila to wait."

With the changes to the _Cygnet _shuttles, and the addition of a prototype dedicated VI made by Luna, the trip was an infinitely less harrowing and more enjoyable one.

The _Cygnets _still moved like loose missiles but it was far more controllable now.

"There's the pad," Joker commented, as they made one pass before circling around and coming in for landing.

-LatS-

Matriarch Gallae was already waiting for them on the pad. She had a kind face and reminded Harry of a stereotypical, apple-cheeked housewife.

That is, until one recalled the fact she was an asari, who all seemed to have this beauty biologically built into them, though every asari had their own traits.

"Matriarch Gallae," said Samara, approaching the asari, "I would like you to meet the captain of the monastery, Harry Potter."

Gallae eyed him, "He's a human."

"Yes..." said Samara, "I will explain."

And she did. When she was finished, Gallae was chuckling, "Ahhh, you have to love the newcomers to the galaxy. We asari have been hiding this "defect" away from the other races for millennia, and then a single human of about eighteen years of age shows up and demonstrates a perfectly reasonable way of making the Ardat-Yakshi useful. It's a shame you only want Falere and Rila."

"Considering we intend to pick up Samara's third daughter, the rogue, on the way," Harry said, "I think four Ardat-Yakshi on board will be more than enough."

"Four?" Gallae asked in shock.

"Yes," said Harry, "Falere, Rila, Morinth and one we picked up along the way called Aela T'Loak, but who prefers Valkyrie."

"Impressive,"

"Indeed," Harry smiled, "All that needs to be done now is we work out how to cure it and things will be just peachy."

"Some of the finest scientists in asari space have been working on this for far longer than I've been alive" her tone indicated she'd believe that when she saw it.

Hermione chuckled herself, "Oh trust me, if anybody can break the laws of nature and somehow make it end in his favour, Harry can."

"What's that meant to mean?"

"I _mean_, Harry," said Hermione patiently, "that you seem to contradict _all _the laws. Remember the Patronus incident?"

"What was strange about that?"

"That was a seventh-year ability for a very good reason, Harry! You mastered it to a better standard than most other people at _thirteen_!"

"I still remember the look on Remus' face, priceless,"

"Yes," said Hermione, "And I remember my own frustration as you showed me up with the Patronus Charm."

"Aw, is Hermione jealous?"

Hermione threw a datapad at him from her pocket, and it bounced off his forehead, "OW!"

"Shut up, _Captain_," she said, "I'll handle the transfer with Samara. You just stand here and please _try _not to cause trouble?"

"Hermione, I don't go _looking _for trouble. It is quite capable of finding me all on its own without any help from me whatsoever!"

Samara coughed, "Shall we get on with this?"

"Yes," said Hermione, "We shall." She moved over to Matriarch Gallae and Samara, "Let us move on."

-LatS-

They had all ventured down inside the monastery, where Harry remained in the central hall while Hermione went off with Samara and Gallae.

It was as he was fiddling with his omnitool that a voice broke into his thoughts, "Hello?"

He looked up to see a pretty young asari standing before him, smiling pleasantly, "I'm Yanis. Can I help you?"

"Oh don't mind me, just having an argument with my omnitool," Harry distractedly replied.

Yanis sat down in the chair beside him, "Well I'm quite good with an omnitool. Maybe I could help you?" She caught his wrist and began poking at his omnitool, teasingly rubbing his arm as she did so.

Finally she sat back and pouted slightly, "Awwww... I was sure that would work. You have nice strong arms though."

"Thank you. And may I say you also look very nice."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," as she trailed a finger down the front of her blouse, teasingly tracing a curve.

"Oh really?" Harry countered, "And where might "everywhere" be?"

"Perhaps... here," said Yanis, loosening the buttons on her blouse.

"And while a very beautiful woman... a fried mind, a worthy price for sex is not," Harry replied. "I'm flattered, but there are other ways to have a relationship without killing your partner, you know,"

"And what would you know?" snapped Yanis, suddenly angry, facing him directly... and her eyes had turned black, "Maybe I should give you a taste!"

Yanis felt the meld begin to form... and then it happened. The Ardat-Yakshi ran straight into mental barriers unlike anything she had ever felt before. They loomed above her mental projection like the walls and towers of a castle, with no way past at all.

Then she felt hands grip her from behind, and turned to see Potter looking back at her, green eyes flashing like death and seemingly taller and more foreboding than he had been outside.

Yanis felt her back touch against the wall, unable to tear her own eyes away from those terrible green ones. And then... everything went white.

Harry watched in some confusion as Yanis hit the floor, sprawled like a thrown doll and moaning softly to herself as she twitched every so often.

He gazed down at her for a second before tapping his omnitool, "Hermione?"

_"Yes, Harry?"_

"Can you... put Matriarch Gallae on? One of her charges... I think she just tried to meld with me and it didn't quite end the way she hoped."

A muffled voice on the other end said, _"What? One of my...?" _then it came again, more amplified, _"Which one tried to meld with you?"_

"She said her name was Yanis, and-"

"_Said? Was? Did you kill her?"_There was a note of fear in her voice now.

"No... but her meld didn't seem to work properly. For one it didn't kill me, for another she's currently lying at my feet and moaning like crazy."

Hermione's voice sighed, _"That's my captain; the person who can not only survive a mind-meld from a genetically defective asari, but also render her unconscious and not know how he did it."_

"Yeah... I would assume this means I might be immune. Must be the Occlumency."

_"Hmm..." _Hermione mused, _"Yes, I would assume it is the Occlumency."_

"Oh master..." Yanis whimpered... evidently in a fantasy.

"Hermione? She's calling me Master."

There was a pause. _"I'm on my way up with a video camera. Don't do anything."_

"... I don't think I have to... and she's stripping herself now,"

So sue him, he was a red blooded male and he liked the show he was being given.

Hermione sighed, _"Matriarch Gallae, we might have to take another one with us."_

There was another pause while Gallae evidently thought it over, _"That's alright. Yanis has always been a bit of a troublemaker. Maybe the captain can keep her in line."_

"Please master, may I have some more?"

Okay, he was convinced she wasn't really aware at the moment but this was getting a bit much. He discreetly adjusted his trousers.

_"Anyway," _Hermione said in a tired voice, _"Falere and Rila agreed when their mother spoke to them. They're just collecting their things and they'll meet us up there. I think we should have them carry Yanis to the shuttle; she might assault you otherwise."_

Yanis' back arched one last time as she obviously came one final time before passing out with a smile on her face.

"I... don't think that'll be a problem."

Hermione sighed, _"Whatever. I'll see you topside." _She severed the connection.

-LatS-

There was a fair amount of hilarity when everybody emerged back into the main room and found Harry trying to prop Yanis up in a chair without letting her drool on herself.

Harry gave Falere and Rila a quick explanation of what duties they were to perform aboard the ship, and they agreed with gusto.

"Not a word... not one word," Harry said.

"I said nothing," said Hermione innocently.

"It's what you were thinking, you unconvincingly innocent pervert."

"Says the guy who subdued an asari trying to melt his brain by driving her through a dozen rapid multiple orgasms."

"How many did she have?" Gallae asked, staring at a visible wet patch on the unconscious asari's pants.

"I must admit I don't know. The way she was behaving it looked continuous for roughly... five minutes, I'd say."

That was an understatement. If she hadn't been wearing clothing, Yanis would have had quite the puddle under her.

Gallae sighed, "Such a breakthrough... you mentioned something called Occlumency though, didn't you? Can it be taught?"

"It can, but it's not an easy skill to master, and some are unable to be taught period, something about their mental makeup making them incompatible with the skill," Hermione said.

"Could I potentially learn it? Or the Ardat-Yakshi? It would be nice for them to be able to meld without killing one another."

Harry looked into each of the Ardat-Yakshi with Legilimency, useful in determining if someone could learn Occlumency, and sighed. "Their minds are incompatible with the skill," then he looked into Gallae's mind and shook his head.

"It would appear that only those with the special form of biotics that Hermione and I possess can use it. My apologies, Matriarch."

"That's alright," she said, looking somewhat disappointed before turning to Falere and Rila, "Now you two. Keep Yanis out of trouble, won't you?"

"We will," promised Rila.

Gallae smiled and then hugged both girls, "It's been a great pleasure having you two here. Such responsible asari... even with your genetic defect you make me proud of the next generation of children."

The two Ardat-Yakshi hugged her back, "Goodbye, Matriarch. It has been an honour to associate with you."

-LatS-

"Valkyrie," said Harry, back in the shuttle after a tearful goodbye to the rest of the monastery's tenants from Falere and Rila, "Are you there?"

_"Yes Harry. What do you need?"_

"We've got three Ardat-Yakshi on board. Mind showing them the ropes and telling them their jobs on the _Cygnus_?"

_"Of course, Captain. Just send them to me in the kitchen when you dock with the _Cygnus_ and I'll do the rest."_

"Thanks, Valkyrie." He cut the connection and turned in his seat to face Yanis, who was just awakening, strapped into a chair across from Samara in the back, "Rise and shine, little one," said Harry, "We're just en route to my ship. I've got a question for you."

"And that is, sir?"

Harry winced, "First of all, don't call me sir. It's Harry or Captain on the ship. My question, however, is what are you good at? What do you like to do? Everyone pulls their weight on my ship."

Yanis looked out of the window for a second before she said, "I like to cook."

"Excellent," said Hermione from the front seat, "That's good. With our crew getting as large as it is, it isn't fair to expect Valkyrie to cook for everybody. Particularly with all the quarians needing separate food."

"I've never cooked quarian food, I'd need instruction," Yanis replied.

"Don't worry about that," said Hermione, "Valkyrie is another Ardat-Yakshi who was teamed up with a quarian when we met her; it's safe to say she knows her stuff by now."

"Okay then,"

Yanis sat back in her chair and looked out the window. Finally she asked, "Why am I here?"

Hermione answered, "After the shock you got from trying to meld with Harry, Gallae figured it would be best if you went with us to keep you out of trouble. She said you might do something hasty otherwise."

Yanis' head dropped, "I'm sorry about that. I... I was angry."

"No harm, no foul," said Harry without turning from the front window. "Just make yourself useful and I'm content to let it go."

Yanis nodded, "You got it sir."

"Don't call me sir."

"You got it boss."

"Don't call me that either."

"Harry?"

"Better."

-LatS-

They returned to the _Argenti Cygnus _in short order, where Valkyrie was waiting on hand to take possession of the three Ardat-Yakshi as Harry and Hermione headed up to the bridge, intent on issuing him with coordinates for their next destination.

Fitle Nix stopped them before they reached the elevator, "Captain?"

"Yes, Fitle?" Harry asked.

The volus held out a datapad, "We need to go to Noveria... I have managed to procure us a cargo from Binary Helix destined for another location. They wish for secrecy however, so I'm afraid we cannot know what is in the package. Is this agreeable?"

Harry frowned, "As leery as I am to accept a courier job without knowing what we're delivering, Binary Helix _are _a prominent company. I can't see them giving us contraband to deliver. Send a message back saying we accept."

"Understood, Captain." Fitle walked away.

_"Captain, we have a situation up here on the crew deck." _Kanara's voice issued from Harry's omnitool.

"What is it, Kanara?"

_"Luna slipped up and expressed an independent opinion in front of the quarians. They know she's an A.I. and they're fairly angry about the deception."_

Harry sighed, "Damn it. Okay, I'll come and explain. Try and stall them until I can get up there."

_"Hurry. They haven't started shooting yet but I think they're close and I don't want to go into blood rage in the middle of the crew deck. Things might get a little messy if I do."_

"Hermione, let's go."

They walked out of the elevator a minute later to see Kanara standing between three quarians holding assault rifles and Luna, who looked vaguely amused. "ENOUGH!"

They all turned to see Harry approaching, looking stern.

"Captain Potter!" said Ceya'Lana in outrage, "How could you not tell me there was an artificial intelligence on board; I trusted you!"

"This is _why _we didn't tell you!" said Harry calmly, "Besides..."

"She's not an A.I." Hermione told the understandably concerned Quarians, "She's an Artificially Sustained Sapient, an A.S.S. for short."

It took a moment but Luna was quickest on the uptake when she dryly remarked to Harry, **"I thought we agreed not to let her name things anymore..."******

Harry looked abashed, "Yeah, I kinda forgot about that."

Hermione puffed herself up indignantly, but Harry interrupted her before she could speak, "Not now Hermione. Anyway, you lot owe Luna more than you think you do."

"Oh really?" said Ceya, "And why would _that _be?"

"Simple," said Harry, pointing at Tali twenty feet away by the mess tables, "If not for Luna, she'd be dead."

There was a pause. "Wh-what?" stammered Tali.

"Captain Ceya'Lana may have informed us as to your location, Miss Zorah, but it was Luna who ultimately told me where to find you before those batarians were able to assault you."

Tali tilted her head to one side and looked at Luna, "Is that true?"

Luna nodded, **"Yes, it is. I scanned the building when Harry told me to look for you and I found you."**

Harry folded his arms, "There you go. Also, Luna is more than a simple A.I. She was born of the mind of a friend of ours from school. She would rather die than betray either of us."

Luna nodded, **"That is also correct."**

"Right," said Captain Ceya'Lana, lowering her assault rifle, "I can't say I'm completely willing to trust her at the moment, but I can put up with her until we return to the Migrant Fleet."

Harry nodded, "Good. Now shall we all get back to whatever we were doing first?"

"Yes."

"I guess.

**"Of course."**

Harry nodded and turned to Luna, "Luna, tell Joker to plot a course for Noveria. We're apparently picking up live cargo."

**"At once, Captain," **she vanished from sight.

"Live cargo?" said Valkyrie as she appeared around the corner with Yanis in tow, "We're picking up _live _cargo?"

"Yes, apparently. Binary Helix apparently picked up Fitle Nix's extranet advert and they don't want any questions asked. I'm a little leery but we need the funds."

"Alright. By the way Phoenix said he wished to talk when you had a moment."

Harry sighed, "Hermione, go see what Phoenix wants. I'm going to check that Falere and Rila have settled in alright."

"Got it Harry," said Hermione as she headed to the second elevator.

-LatS-

"What do you need, Phoenix?" Hermione said.

Phoenix looked up from the sniper rifle he was painstakingly cleaning, "Ah, XO Granger. Just the person I wanted to see." He set the sniper rifle down and leaned against the bench, "You said a while ago you wanted to speak to me about building some things. Well, I'm free now."

"Ah, yes," said Hermione, bringing up her omnitool. "There are two people I'd like to build things for, Myxtin and Joker."

"What would they need?"

"Myxtin's our inventory officer, as you know. As such she needs something to help her perform her work. So I came up with this schematic."

She showed Phoenix a datapad. He examined it, "This looks like some kind of waistcoat... with arms?"

Hermione nodded, "Metal arms, controlled by some medium... Myxtin doesn't have biotics or tech skills, so I would hazard a guess that our best option is neural implant, with her permission. Can you make anything like that?"

Phoenix drummed his fingers on the edge of the workbench as he examined the schematic, then he nodded, "Yes... yes, I can make this work. You'll need a professional doctor for the implant though, and I mean a _real _professional. Not just Kanara with a DIY book."

Hermione chuckled at the joke, "I gathered that."

"Now, what about this second schematic you mentioned?"

Hermione produced a second datapad and held it out, "This is for Joker. It's to counteract his Vrolik's Syndrome."

Phoenix tilted his head to one side, "Um, I don't do curing genetic defects, ma'am."

"I know that. This is a jumpsuit, reinforced with shock absorbers and padding. With luck, when wearing this, Joker should be able to run, jump and fall down without shattering half the bones in his body."

Phoenix inspected the schematic, "Yes, this I can definitely do. Might take a while and I'll need to requisition some materials, but I can do it."

Hermione smiled, "Thanks Phoenix. Knew we could count on you."

-LatS-

"And let me be clear," said the scientist impatiently, "You are _not _to look inside. I will not be pleased if you pry into our company's secrets."

Harry nodded, "I have little interest in whatever your company might be hiding, I'm just interested in pay."

The scientist frowned, "I hope you are aware that you will not be paid until after you complete your job, mercenary?"

Harry raised one hand, biotics glittering around his fist, "I'm not a mercenary, punk. And I don't like uppity scientists. Are we clear on that?"

"Crystal," mumbled the man, averting his eyes.

"Good," said Harry, "Now you pay up front. Or we pitch your precious cargo out over a sun somewhere." He was fast losing patience with this person.

Behind Harry, most of the crew worked together to push an enormous container the size of a large truck up the loading ramp onto the ship.

The scientist gulped before activating his omnitool and tapping at it. Harry eyed his until the credit balance shifted, telling him that the funds had cleared.

"Nice doing business with you," he said, walking back towards the ship and assisting in the effort to get the container on board.

"We may as well have loaded a semi and its trailer," was the common consensus once the damned thing was actually loaded.

"Let's be off," said Harry, "All aboard."

-LatS-

The next few days were hectic. Falere, Rila and Yanis had settled in appropriately, the trio choosing to bunk with Samara to save on rooms.

But not all was peaceful on the _Argenti Cygnus_. Harry had had the vorcha mercenaries standing guard on the container since they had left Noveria, and it was the third day when Skryt, Kanara's informal second-in-command over the vorcha and their varren, confronted Harry in the mess hall.

"Should warn you; we hearing strange noises from box. Sometimes it rattle against fastenings keeping it on floor as well. Something inside; something _big_."

Harry nodded, "I will have Luna record the sounds and cross-reference against the extranet; I'm not dispensing it off the ship unless I _know _that it could prove a danger."

Skryt nodded and headed off.

"Luna?" said Harry.

**"Yes?"**

"Go record the container and cross-reference against the extranet. But first, tell the Matriarch, Samara, Kanara, Shepard and Hermione I want to see all of them here in the mess hall at once."

**"Got it."**

Her avatar collapsed into motes of light as Harry sat down at an empty table and waited.

Five minutes later...

**"I have completed my analysis of the box's behaviour,"**

Harry looked down at Luna's tiny avatar reclining on the table, "Yes?"

**"The box is obviously well-fitted to its inhabitant judging by the motion. As for the noises the inhabitant is making..." **she raised a hand and projected an image of an insect-like creature in front of her. Benezia drew a breath which was echoed by both Kanara and Samara. **"...they are consistent with rachni."**

"That's impossible," said Kanara, "My people wiped the rachni from the face of the galaxy. They're extinct."

"Apparently not..." said Benezia, "This is most disturbing."

**"I ran a few deep penetrating scans on the container. From what information I can discover, what is inside fits the profile for a rachni queen."**

Shepard stood up, "It must be destroyed! One rachni queen could repopulate the galaxy with those... things."

"You weren't there," said Samara placidly, "You say too much about things you barely understand, Commander." She turned to Harry, "I advise caution. Rachni are dangerous."

Harry frowned, "Someone clarify for me... rachni? Explain."

"Two thousand years ago," said Benezia, "A salarian exploration team activated a dormant mass relay. That relay led into rachni space; they swarmed out and began attacking without mercy."

Kanara took up the explanation, "The salarians uplifted my people, the krogan; because of Tuchanka's condition we had developed a tenacity to survive beyond anything any other race was capable of. We were the only ones who could pursue the rachni back to Suen, their homeworld, and survive beneath its toxic atmosphere."

"The krogan eradicated the rachni from existence," Samara spoke this time, "and detonated nuclear weapons in their underground burrows as a precaution."

"And now," said Kanara, stabbing a finger at Luna's hologram, "Sparkles here says we have a queen in the cargo hold. Captain, she cannot leave this ship alive."

Harry sighed, rubbing his temples. This was a complete clusterfuck in the making...

"Were the rachni sentient?" he asked Benezia.

"I would assume so. They were capable of spaceflight, tactics, everything which made them a formidable threat."

"Then I have made my decision. I will open the container, keeping the rachni behind a barrier. I will speak to it first, determine its view. Then I will make the call whether to destroy or spare it."

Shepard snorted, slapping her hand on the table, "I say why wait? It's likely to just be an animal anyway."

"Because I refuse to commit genocide unless there is no other option!" he actually shouted at her.

"My ship, my rules, and I will NOT be responsible for the destruction of an entire race unless I have no other option,"

Shepard opened her mouth but Harry gave her an angry look, "Not another word out of you, unless you'd like to settle this on the sparring mats in the gym?"

Shepard grinned, "Bring it on, _Captain_,"

The look he fixed her with said quite plainly that she would soon be eating her words. _"This ends now,"_Harry thought, annoyed, he was so far past tired of dealing with her antics. Every decision, every move, he was done with this. She wanted to be on this ship? Then she could bloody well earn it now.

Somehow most of the crew quickly heard that there was to be a fight in the gymnasium, since most of them were already there cheerfully swapping bets when Harry and Shepard arrived, each now wearing light exercise clothes.

Harry went through stretches to loosen up and ready himself. His entire bearing screamed quiet, sure confidence. The kind born of years of experience.

Shepard was smirking as she stepped onto the mats, omnitool shining around one hand and her biotics glittering around the other. "Ready to lose, _Captain_?" she said.

"I believe that should be directed at you, but I'm not that arrogant." Harry replied.

Shepard snarled and charged at him, swiping with her biotics. Harry simply sidestepped her and batted her attempted strike aside.

This continued for twenty minutes before Harry decided to get playful, on the next charge, he actually slapped her ass via his biotics. "Olé!"

Shepard saw red. Turning around, she brought up her omnitool and flash-forged an omniblade from it, aiming for a gut strike. Harry caught her wrist and twisted it behind her back, discarding the blade with a deft flick of his biotics. Shepard found herself on her knees, held down with Harry's head close to her ear.

"You really like this, don't you?" Harry whispered, "Restrained and helpless, oh so helpless..."

Shepard was furious. How _dare _he do this to her, the heroine of the Skyllian Blitz! She had held the line alone against the last waves of batarians, until her omnitool was flashing error messages, her biotic amp was almost burning a hole in her skull and her hands were blistered and red from gripping her overheating assault rifle... and this _person_was making her feel completely weak!

She bellowed and threw her head back, aiming for his bits and found herself sliding along the floor fast enough that when she slid into the padded wall, it knocked the air out of her.

"You have an ego problem Shepard," Harry spoke, as he watched the woman stand, staring at him like an insect to be crushed. Instead, he simply turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Shepard yelled after him.

He stopped in the doorway and turned back, "You already lost. I have no interest in fighting an enemy who doesn't know when they're beaten. I'm going to deal with our new passenger." He walked out.

She stood there, staring in shock at the casual dismissal. _"Who the hell does he think he is?!"_

-LatS-

Harry waited for everyone to depart the gym area and return to their stations before approaching the container and setting up a barrier across the entrance. Once a subtle glow had alerted him to its success, he unlocked and lifted the hatch.

It was dark beyond; nothing was visible inside. Then _something _shifted within the container.

Harry stayed completely still, allowing the creature to come to him. Slowly, it moved into the light and revealed itself.

It was quite clearly an insect; with bulbous eyes, a shiny carapace and pointed antenna which tapped experimentally on his barrier before apparently deciding it was sound.

While waiting for the crowds from the fight to clear, he had revised the subject of the rachni on the Codex, so Harry was now aware that the rachni communicated via mental link. As such he raised his hand and muttered "Legilimens,"

The rachni's mind felt strange, like a contemporary's idea of Heaven; complete with the musical choir in the background.

The glaring difference however is that the choir was issuing from billions of vibrating strings stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction, while Harry himself stood alone on a plateau in the middle of it all.

**"Who enters **_**my**_** mind?"**

"I do," Harry replied, "To ask you questions."

**"Questions? You have questions? What questions could you have for me, the last of the rachni?"**

"Your answers may influence your chances of survival."

**"Then speak."**

"First, I wish to know about the rachni. This was the easiest way for us to communicate, but I would like to know more about how you communicate."

**"My kind sing through touchings of thought. We pluck the strings, and the other one understands. Your music has more colour than those of your kin, but not as much as my kind."**

"Music?"

**"It is... difficult to explain to one such as yourself. What is your next question?"**

"Do you bear the same hostility towards us that the rachni showed during the Rachni Wars?"

**"Do you wish to destroy us?"**

"No. Your race was attacking Council space while three shepherds followed a star through the desert. I bear no form of hostility towards the rachni, but based on your response I may have reason. I ask again; do you bear the same hostility towards us that the rachni showed during the Rachni Wars?"

**"I am unsure what happened during the Rachni Wars; my people are not naturally violent. Something soured our songs; a yellow shriek which corrupted our young and made them violent."**

"That would be... like mind-control to you, wouldn't it?"

**"Yes."**

"Right then. But how did you avoid it?"

**"I was only an egg, hearing my mother cry in my dreams. I was dormant in a derelict rachni ship and probably would have remained there if your people had not hatched me."**

"I see... what would your plan be were we to let you go then?"

**"We would retreat into darkness and silence. Raise our children to understand harmony and cooperation. Then we would return seeking peace."**

Harry nodded, "Alright, you've convinced me. We will take you back to your homeworld, Suen and drop you off there. In return, you keep your word. Deal?"

**"Deal."**

The rachni queen extended one of her antenna, which Harry caught hold of and shook once.

*** Props to tremerid on FFN for the joke!

**** Props to ToBetasered on FFN for the joke!

**(A/N: Yeah... I didn't **_**quite**_** make it as far as I'd hoped in this chapter, looks like the Citadel will be next chapter after all. And so, until next time folks! Leonineus, OUT!)**


	6. C5: There's Always a Bigger Fish

Lightning among the Stars

Chapter Five: There's Always a Bigger Fish

**(A/N: Okay, because I was getting a few complaints about it... Luna ****_will _****get a body ****later on ****in the storyline. It just won't happen for quite a while yet. As for Shepard, she ****is dealt ****with in this chapter so no longer will we have to put up with Bitchy!Shep.)**

Featuring:  
>Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda Lawson*<p>

Councillor Tevos

"Stardate: twenty-four, two, twenty-one seventy-seven. It has been years since we last saw a civilized planet, and the crew are starting to lose hope- OW!"

Hermione, sitting at Harry's side in her seat, had smacked him on the head, "Stop being an idiot, Harry!"

Harry maturely stuck his tongue out at her, "Killjoy!"

Hermione sighed, "The things I put up with... Rila, how are we doing?"

The asari looked up from the navigation console, "We're closing in... Luna, can you run another long-range scan?"

**"Right away. The scans show that there is a signature orbiting Mnemosyne."**

"That might be what we're looking for. Joker, bring us in towards the brown dwarf."

"Got it."

"Joker?" said Rila, "I'm picking up signs of storms around Mnemosyne... you might want to engage the external dampeners to counter the storms or we'll get tossed about all over the place inside the hull. The automatic inertial dampeners won't really help."

"Got it. Doing that now."

The _Cygnus _swung around Mnemosyne and came into view of the signature.

"That's... it looks like a cuttlefish."

Hermione tapped her omnitool, "A reaper cuttlefish, specifically."

"How is that meant to be intimidating?"

"Evidently it wasn't by how it ended up."

**"Harry, Hermione,"**

"Yes, Luna?"

**"My scans are picking something up... there's ****some kind of signal ****surrounding the wreck."**

"Signal?"

**"Yes. I'm still analyzing it but I would recommend only you two approach the wreck for a while."**

"Why?"

**"My ****initial ****findings ****indicate ****it's ****some kind of mental ****signal. I can't ****determine ****what it does but ****Occlumency ****will probably defeat it."**

"Thanks for the warning, Luna. We'll get to work."

And get to work they did. As soon as they had procured two exosuits from the storage area, they boarded a _Cygnet _and headed out towards the wreck.

It was eerie when they landed. Walking on the external layer of the ship was like strolling across a graveyard.

"Harry, scans indicate this craft's armour and shields are beyond the average. I recommend we salvage the armour and shield emitters for the _Cygnus_," Hermione said, her omnitool shining in the gloom.

Harry nodded, "Estimates on how long it would take to strip the hull for sufficient material to cover the _Cygnus_?"

Hermione frowned, "Counting breaks for sleep and food? Four days tops if I'm working alone. If we can keep up a system like we did when we were building the _Cygnus_? Less than twenty-four hours. We would need to dock in at Omega again to install the new armour and shield emitters however."

Harry nodded, "Good, let's get to work."

-LatS-

Apparently Harry and Hermione were more efficient than they believed. Once Harry had realized that he could pull whole sections of armour off with his biotics and navigate them into the extended bag Hermione had provided, they were done in less than twelve hours of work.

After dropping off the bag full of armour and shield tech on the ship (with strict orders for nobody to mess with it), Harry and Hermione headed down into the main wreck.

It was even more eerie within. Shadows seemed to lurk and leap out at them when they least expected it, and both were acquiring migraines from their Occlumency deflecting the odd mental attack that the wreck emitted.

Hermione touched Harry's arm, "Harry, my omnitool is picking something up. Luna, what do you make of this?"

She forwarded the readings to the _Cygnus_.

Luna was quiet for a second before she said, **_"Unless my sensors mislead me, Hermione, this is the ship's IFF. If you can find and scan it with your omnitool I _****_should be _****_able to give you information about it."_**

It took them both a further hour to locate the IFF, and when they ultimately did Harry immediately scanned it with his omnitool.

**_"Intriguing... my readings _****_indicate _****_that the IFF carries some form of enhanced coding meant to _****_interface with _****_the mass relays... more direct than normal _****_IFFs _****_like that of the _****Cygnus_..."_**

"And that means?" Harry asked.

Hermione clapped her hands together, "It means that whatever this thing is, it carries a special IFF which allows them to make pinpoint jumps through the mass relays. Our IFF leaves us open to drift."

"So if we used this IFF, it would allow us to make faster, more accurate jumps through mass relays?"

"Yes, that's basically it."

"Good enough for me," Harry said, smiling behind his mask as he yanked the IFF from its housing, "Let's keep moving."

-LatS-

"That's... big." Harry remarked.

They were standing on a platform, looking up at the mass effect core above them. It hung overhead like a giant blue iris, seeming to glare at them.

"Yes," said Hermione, "We should take it for study. I'll start trying to disconnect it." She set off, using magic to levitate herself up to the mass effect core.

Harry turned around and immediately noticed something off. Above him, an image was projecting; an image of the ship they were on. Then it spoke, a deep, rumbling bass which reverberated in Harry's bones, **"You. Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. Why do you invade our nation?"**

Harry looked up at it, "Your nation? What are you, anyway?"

**"Something so far beyond your understanding that you cannot possibly comprehend. We are the pinnacle, the apex. The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ****end-****"**

"Yes, yes, I've heard it all before," said Harry, waving a hand dismissively, "What is it with villains that they seem to think monologuing is an acceptable course of action?"

**"Use humour to hide your fear if you wish, but it changes nothing. When the rest of our fleet comes, you ****will be brought ****to the apex of evolution with us. We are legion."**

"Do you have a name?"

**"We are ****Ehzra****. A cycle that worshipped us as their gods of destruction named me Portent. All that we were is ****the portent of ****their own annihilation."**

"And your fleet? What are they called?"

**"We have had many names. The most recent came from your predecessors, the ****Protheans****. We are Reapers. But what they called us is immaterial. A foolish attempt to put a name to their destruction; which did nothing to save them."**

"Reapers, huh? Well, reap _this_; Hermione, pull the plug! I'm bored of talking to this guy."

Hermione, watching from the mass effect core, wrenched it free of its housing and banished it into another bag, the projection cutting out... and the wreck shuddered under their feet.

**_"Harry!" _**Luna's voice sounded in his ear, sounding slightly concerned.

"What? What is it?"

**_"Whatever you just did there... it cut the mass effect fields holding the ship in orbit. You have to get out of there, before it drops into the star!"_**

Harry turned to Hermione, "RUN!"

Luna chimed in, **_"I'm remotely controlling the _****Cygnet_; rendezvous in half a minute!"_**

Harry looked to his right as the birdlike vehicle swooped in and opened its hatch for Harry and Hermione to dive in.

"We're in, Luna! Go!" Hermione ordered.

Luna obeyed; the Cygnet's hatch swung shut, the craft reversed out of the hulk and immediately sped away, even as the dead Reaper behind them passed crush depth and imploded.

"That..." Harry sighed, "...was close. Good work Luna."

**_"I aim to please."_**

"A little _too _close... new rule; no unplugging mass effect cores in that kind of situation," Hermione remarked.

**_"Agreed... please try not to do that again? I just got you both back."_** Luna commented.

"Of course not," said Hermione, then turned to Harry, "Harry, I have a concern. That... thing... said something about "the rest of its fleet". What do you think that meant?"

Harry shook his head, "I don't know... but it sounds serious."

"We'll need to prepare, I think..." Hermione said firmly.

"Here we go again," Harry muttered under his breath.

Unknowingly or not, he had just echoed a certain protocol droid from a certain pop culture phenomenon movie... He didn't rightly give a damn at the moment.

-LatS-

As soon as the _Cygnet _was docked, Harry and Hermione were out of it and heading towards the elevator. Phoenix intercepted them halfway there, "Captain, can we talk about this stuff you wanted me to design? If you have a minute."

Harry glanced at Hermione, who nodded and stopped to talk to Phoenix as he headed straight into the elevator and up to the top level.

"I think I've got more than a minute... after that near death experience I could use the discussion actually," Hermione replied.

"Right," said Phoenix, "I figured out basic ideas... but it's going to take a lot of materials."

"The waistcoat and visual interface for Myxtin and the suit for Joker? Go on," Hermione replied.

Phoenix began to explain.

-LatS-

"Captain, may I ask a question?" said Benezia once Harry had exited the elevator on the crew deck, after taking off the suit and dropping off their salvaged items.

"Of course, Matriarch. What is it?"

"What was that thing?"

And so Harry explained. He told her about the encounter with the hologram on the ship, about its mention of a "fleet", and the odd mental signal Luna had picked up.

When he was done, Benezia frowned, "This sounds like something else I heard of..."

At Harry's curious look she elaborated, "In 2163, the batarian Hegemony found a defunct dreadnought of incredible size on Jartar in the Dis system, Hades Gamma cluster. They called it the "Leviathan of Dis", and estimated it at nearly a billion years old. It disappeared soon after, and apparently a batarian dreadnought was sighted in the system at the same time."

Harry looked apprehensive, "We should warn the batarians then. If my feelings about this are correct, they have _no idea _what they are dealing with."

"I wish you luck... if they listen to you... the batarians don't like humans, then again I've seen evidence that the enmity is mutual amongst some of your kind."

"Matriarch... these Reapers? They're sending chills down my spine," was all Harry said as he left the room.

"Rila," he said to his omnitool as he walked back to the lift, "Plot a course for the Kite's Nest."

_"The Kite's Nest?"_ she responded, _"But that's __batarian __space!"_

"I know," said Harry, "But something's come up and we need to talk to the Hegemony, if they'll even listen to us that is," He changed channels, "Chimera, meet me on the bridge."

_"Right away, Captain,"_the batarian growled back.

-LatS-

"Problem Captain?" Chimera asked as he walked onto the bridge, to find his captain pacing back and forth.

"The wreck we were just on possessed a signal that, we think, can manifest some form of mind control. According to the Matriarch, however, the batarians found a similar hulk a decade ago."

Chimera nodded, "Yes, the Leviathan of Dis. I've heard of it."

"Yes," Harry nodded, "Well we think that the Leviathan possesses the same signal. If it does, the batarians are in great danger."

"My concern, and please don't take this the wrong way, is how to ram it into the skulls of your... well the most polite way I've heard it put... is stubborn brethren."

Chimera nodded, "So that's why you needed me up here? When we arrive and hail Khar'shan, you need me to talk them into letting you down there?"

"Yes, I figured they'd be more agreeable if it came from a fellow batarian."

"I see. Well, you may have underestimated how stubborn my people are, but I will try my best."

"Its not like we've any better alternative... but thank you," Harry said.

"Captain!"

Harry turned to see Shepard approaching. She had been fairly subdued ever since the fight. "Yes, Commander?"

"I heard that we are going into batarian space. May I ask why?"

"Simple... the Batarians have no idea they have something in their possession that will utterly destroy them."

Shepard's lip curled, but before she could say a word Harry said, "And if I hear a single word about that being a good thing from you, there will be repercussions."

"Captain," said Joker, "We're dropping out of the mass relay in a minute."

"Understood," said Harry, thumbing the shipwide tannoy system, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to drop out into the batarian-controlled Kite's Nest. We are not anticipating a hostile greeting but all the same, please brace yourselves."

"And probably a whole mess of hornets," he added in a mutter under his breath.

**"Harry," **said Luna, **"I'm picking up ship signatures just beyond the relay... and weapon discharges."**

"Understood," said Harry. Luna had been working on sensing things via the comm buoy network, and it appeared to be paying off.

Sure enough, a minute later, they dropped out of the relay a split second later to see more than a dozen assorted batarian frigates and cruisers firing on... one of their own dreadnoughts?

"What's going on, Luna?"

**"I don't know, Harry. It looks like they're trying to stop the dreadnought for whatever reason... it also seems that the dreadnought itself is on a collision vector to ****Khar'shan****."**

Shepard made a scoffing sound behind them.

"Falere, open a channel to one of those cruisers."

"At once, Captain."

As soon as she signalled, Harry cleared his throat and said, "This is Captain Harry Potter of the _Argenti __Cygnus _hailing. Do you need assistance?"

The batarian's voice on the other end was harsh, just like all his kind, but there was a note of fear there too, _"Who are you? And what are you doing in the Kite's Nest?"_

"I seek an audience with the Hegemony to discuss business... but I stand ready to assist however I can before then. Can I help?"

The answer was apparent... the batarian cruisers' weapons were of a high quality for their particular ship type, but they weren't really doing a good deal against the dreadnought. The point was reinforced a second later when a cruiser on the far side of the dreadnought suddenly collapsed into a huge ball of flames.

The batarian was silent for a long moment, and Chimera chose that moment to speak up, "Brother, my captain may be a human but he _has_ won my respect. If he says he is willing to help, he is willing to help."

The cruiser's captain was silent for a long moment before he spoke again, _"Very well. Rebels working against the Hegemony have hijacked one of our dreadnoughts and they intend to crash it __onto __one of __Khar'shan's __biggest population centres. The impact alone, never mind the __eezo __core overloading, will have an incredible death toll, and those who survive will suffer horrendous side effects from the radiation. If you can take down that dreadnought before it enters the atmosphere, the Hegemony will be in your debt for averting a cataclysm."_

Harry nodded, "Then that is what will happen. Luna, calculate a firing solution for the MAC. Joker, pull us around and approach that dreadnought from the side. I want it down and out in one shot!"

Just before the channel disconnected, they heard the batarian commander say, _"All ships stop shooting! We have backup with __sufficient __weaponry to take down the dreadnought, but they need a clear firing line!"_

Shepard finally cracked, "Why are you working so hard to save these... animals? They're slavers! I fought hundreds of them on Elysium!"

Harry rounded on her, "They're also sentient beings! There are women and children down there, and I will not have their deaths on my conscience! You two!" He pointed to the two commandos standing guard on either side of the entrance to the bridge.

One looked up, "Sir?"

Harry nodded to Shepard, "Escort the good Commander here to her quarters and make sure she stays in there; I will come and speak with her once the immediate danger has passed."

The two commandos nodded, moved forwards and guided the angry redhead out of the bridge.

"Brace for some chop, this is NOT going to be smooth flying," Joker warned.

**"Harry, firing solution is ready. MAC is nearly to full power."**

"Understood. Wait for my signal to fire."

The _Cygnus_cut closer.

The dreadnought moved ever closer to the planet, Joker had evidently settled on an approach that would set up a lateral bisecting shot.

"Luna, fire!"

**"Firing MAC, one-third power."**

The huge lower beak section on the _Cygnus_' prow lowered, revealing the black void within, which suddenly lit up as the slug erupted forth.

The dreadnought's shields flared, but held.

"Fire again,"

**"Firing,"**

This time, the dreadnought's shields guttered and vanished, but the shot had been slightly off target because of the dreadnought's momentum and punched through the rear half of the ship.

**"Scans ****indicate ****we missed the ****eezo ****core. Preparing for third and ****final ****shot."**

"And one for the road," as Joker decided to take this shot personally, splitting the ship in two as the shot had evidently hit something vital... again not the eezo core but just as good.

The dreadnought began to list to one side, venting atmosphere, then the eezo core overloaded. The dreadnought exploded, enveloped in a huge blue sphere.

"Captain, we're getting a transmission from the batarian cruiser," said Falere.

_"Thank you, human. You've done the __batarian __people a great service today."_

"Not a problem... though if we can still get that meeting with the Hegemony, we might do another one."

_"How so?"_

Harry explained; their discovery over Mnemosyne, the signal they had detected, the warning and the seemingly hostile A.I. By the time he was done, the commander was speechless. Finally he spoke, _"Human... if you can prove this to the Hegemony, beyond all doubt... you had better have damning evidence."_

"We have that. Recordings of our discussion, an analysis of the signal, everything we could think of. As soon as we heard about the Leviathan of Dis, we set off to come here."

_"I've heard enough. Follow my cruiser down to the planet. I have transmitted a message to the Hegemony explaining this, and they seem interested."_

"...small problem with that, or a big one depending on your viewpoint... our ship's a wee bit too massive for a standard berth, we'd like to take a shuttle down if permissible." Harry replied.

_"Very well. I will order my __battlegroup __to hold __position __with your ship and I will escort you down in a shuttle."_

"Fancy another shuttle flight Joker?" Harry asked, knowing that their ever dependable pilot didn't get out enough.

"Sure," said Joker, "As long as I don't get shot at."

-LatS-

The _Cygnet_ shuttle swooped down to the pad gracefully, far more than the flying bricks everyone seemed to favour were capable of.

A batarian squad were waiting when Harry, Hermione and Chimera stepped out of the shuttle, and the trio were escorted into another shuttle at gunpoint to be taken to the Hegemony's headquarters.

"So," said the batarian commander, who had met them in the shuttle, "You cite that the Leviathan of Dis was another one like this wreck you discovered?"

"Yes," said Harry, "And I am well aware that your people deny the existence of the Leviathan, but in the _unlikely_ event that it _did _exist, it would be an immense danger to your people."

The commander nodded, Harry's deliberate emphasis not going unnoticed, "Very well. We're almost there."

The shuttle swung in low, fast and hard to the landing pad, and they were walked out of the shuttle at gunpoint.

"If this is how they treat possible allies... I'd hate to see them mad," Hermione said, their omnitools off so they could speak privately.

"What do you expect?" said Chimera, "The Hegemony is notoriously paranoid. It was likely only the fact that we assisted them in stopping that dreadnought that they even let us stay alive long enough to land, never mind explain our evidence. Only the gods know why they decided to let you two set so much as a toe on Khar'shan without having it immediately shot off."

"Well we're about to find out," Harry commented.

They were walked into a large chamber and stopped in front of a line of seven batarians sitting on a large podium. The one in the middle, who looked to be the oldest by far, stood up.

"So, you two are the humans in command of the ship which took down our dreadnought?"

Harry inclined his head slightly, "Yes, I am the captain."

"And our commander tells us that you have some kind of evidence pertaining to some sort of danger posed by a fictional entity called the Leviathan of Dis?"

"Correct."

"You are aware that the Leviathan of Dis does not in fact exist?"

"Yes and no. I am aware that the batarians _deny_ that it exists. My point here is that _if_ the Leviathan _did_exist, the data we gathered from our own similar source indicates that it would be immensely dangerous to have around."

"Very well," said the only female batarian there. Much to Harry's and Hermione's surprise, she didn't look much like the male batarians there. In fact, she looked more like a human woman except for the dark green skin, slightly ridged forehead and cheekbones and having more slanted eyes (not counting the two extra), "Say we believe you. If the Leviathan _did _exist?"

"Get your people as FAR away from it as possible," was the immediate response.

The elderly batarian frowned, "Our commander says you have evidence. May we see it?"

"Of course," said Hermione, "Can I get a display screen..." She squinted at the holopanel on the woman's desk which read her name, "Councillor Ekarra Sar'kan?"

The female batarian nodded and clicked her fingers, signalling two batarian aides to leave and return carrying such a screen. Hermione connected her omnitool to the screen and began uploading the data.

"Alright," said Harry, as Hermione brought up a picture of the derelict ship, "If the Leviathan still existed, would it look something like this?"

A massive cuttlefish was the best comparison they had for it.

Theirs was more damaged though, like it'd perhaps pissed off something a lot meaner and gotten savaged for its troubles.

"I guess that answers our question," said Hermione, "Next, the signal. Our onboard VI unit analyzed it and determined that the signal is mental in nature, though including some kind of audio signal that is beyond our ability to break down or identify."

"Do you know what it does?"

"No, we do not. We have a hypothesis... a far-fetched one admittedly... that it is some kind of mental control signal."

"Mental control, you say?"

"Yes. As I said, it's only a far-fetched hypothesis. We could be entirely wrong."

"Very well, let's move off from the mind control signal. You said you encountered some kind of hostile artificial intelligence?"

Harry nodded and gestured to Hermione, who began playing Harry's recording of the encounter with the hologram.

"We ran every analysis subroutine we could get our hands on, even tossed a few made up ones at it..."

"And there's something else, which spurred our decision to come here... the A.I. mentioned a fleet. My guess is there are more of these things. There can't just be the two we found."

"The thought of more of these things absolutely unnerves me,"

He was fairly sure they were worse than Voldemort in the malice department alone.

"You, brother," said the female batarian, pointing to Chimera, "What is your name?"

"Brak, ma'am."

"Brak," she said, nodding, "Can you vouch for their... evidence?"

Chimera looked to Harry and Hermione, "Before I met these two, I was teamed up with an asari with an axe to grind with my terrorist ring and an exiled quarian. In under a month,  
>they did more for us than anyone else. They've assembled a beautiful and very well-built ship... they're recruiting a first rate team, granted we're all a bunch of characters… but I'd like to think we've got something good going. As for their evidence here... I vouch for them. I can't see them bullshitting any government; if anything from what I've seen they're determined to make allies all over the galaxy to make sure they can stand up for themselves against everything."<p>

"We will consider the evidence, you make a compelling argument."

The Hegemony soon returned.

"While we are extremely reluctant to believe you... the weight of this evidence and what we ourselves have uncovered cannot be ignored."

"You have our provisional support, we cannot grant any more... given our reputation with the rest of the galaxy, much of it deserved, as we do not wish you tainted by what others view us as."

Harry bowed, "Thank you, sirs and madam. If I may... there is a way we might assist further."

"How so?"

Harry decided to take a gamble, "Not only could we destroy this Leviathan for you... but myself and my female colleague here possess particular skills, one of which allows for a form of mental access. If you consent, we would examine those of your people who have worked on the Leviathan for long periods. Not only might we be able to shed more light on what the signal actually does, we might even be able to stop whatever it is from affecting them."

"And of the ones who are too far gone?" Harry wished they'd not asked that.

"I can't tell you until we've examined them, I'm afraid."

"Then..." said the elder, "Might we proceed?"

-LatS-

As Harry and Hermione settled themselves down in the large office they had been given for their work, Harry reflected that whatever their other faults, the Hegemony _did_ genuinely care about their people.

Chimera had already gone back to the _Cygnus _with Joker, intending to pass on the announcement that in Harry's and Hermione's absence, Phoenix was to take command. Harry had also given him the order that Shepard was to remain confined to her quarters until they returned. Apparently she wasn't taking it well.

Hermione cleared her throat and the door opened to admit the first scientist, who glared at them haughtily before sitting down and saying, "I have no idea why _humans_ are on Khar'shan, let alone why they are performing "mandatory physical and mental examinations". Let's make this quick."

Harry nodded and moved in front of him, "Just relax." Locking eyes with the scientist's lower pair, Harry thought, _"__Legilimens__!"_

The batarian's mind was... strange.

There were shadows all over the place, lots of black spaces, it kind of gave the impression of a Halloween gone awry to him.

As he looked around, his ears picked up a whisper pervading everything. Guessing that to be the signal, he set off in search of its source.

Harry had no real idea or way of gauging how long he'd walked before he found what he was looking for, but hoping he wouldn't find.

"Well shit,"

It was clearly a smaller version of the large cuttlefish-ship they had found around Mnemosyne.

"This is going to go over as well as the _Cygnus _landing on someone's head..." Harry muttered.

In other words, not well at all.

"Oh well," he cracked his knuckles, "Better set to work."

-LatS-

Harry fell back into his chair, completely and utterly wiped after two weeks of traipsing about in mindscapes.

He gave all due consideration to taking a vacation after that but waved off the thought as something he'd not otherwise consider normally.

"I have officially sworn off anything Halloween related for life," he muttered.

Hermione's response was less than eloquent and not her usual manner either.

Unfortunately her comments were in French, a language Harry knew for a fact she could speak, but wasn't able to without the benefit of an omnitool himself, though he got the gist of what she was saying.

"Shush," he said soothingly, pulling Hermione into his lap.

Hermione frowned, "You realize there's a very good reason _why _I'm so cranky?"

"Yeah. After all the hospitality we've been shown, we couldn't very well have sex. Now however... we're leaving tomorrow."

"About bloody time... borderline hostile for a lot of them is being kind,"

"Yes... we _did _have that one incident in that batarian bar when we were invited out for drinks, didn't we?"

Hermione sighed, "Yes, we did. Amazing how high-pitched a drunk batarian's screams can get when he's being swung around the room by apparently nothing at all."

"I still cannot believe you of all people did that," Harry replied.

"That batarian ale is strong stuff."

"You only had one shot; I put about four batarians under the table before I convinced you to join in."

"Very strong,"

"Lightweight,"

"Drunkard,"

Harry swivelled the chair, and faced her. "I'm ready to go... this place has me sick of most batarians for the time being," he said.

"Yes... I'll call Joker to come and fetch us. While we wait, however," she grabbed Harry's collar, "Fuck. Me."

"How do you want it?" Harry asked with a leer.

"Hard and fast,"

"Roughly then?" he asked, as he waved his hand, using his biotics to strip her.

"Yes," moaned Hermione.

**smut scene redacted; refer to ****HPFFA ****for full lemon; link is on profile**

Harry and Hermione lay on their bed, breathing deeply.

"You alright? I kind of lost it at the end.." Harry asked, referring to the fact he'd hilted himself in her throat, cutting off her airway when he came.

Hermione licked her lips and blinked happily at him, "No... if anything being that unable to breathe..."

Harry blinked, "You really are a kinky bitch aren't you? First the Leia incident and now you like me choking you."

Hermione flushed, as she replied, "It made it more intense... not being able to breathe like that."

Harry smiled and pulled her close as she nestled her head into his chest.

-LatS-

They returned to the _Argenti __Cygnus_ the next day, but did not stick around. They simply ran a few simulations in the tech lab area before heading down to the engineering deck for a talk with Chimera. A while later they left again, the _Cygnets _and Kodiak laden down with odd metal tubes with rings of blinking lights around the ends.

_"Would you mind informing me of your plan now?" _Ekarra asked, having been appointed as their official contact at the Hegemony's headquarters as the convoy sped towards the provided coordinates for the Leviathan facility, now empty and deserted after all scientists and guards were called away for the mental scans.

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Harry said as he navigated his and Hermione's _Cygnet _between two large outcroppings of rock and dropped into the valley on the other side for a low flight just above the trees, its three duplicates gliding behind them and the Kodiak lumbering along at the rear. "Our ship's main weapon is powered by a large reactor which functions by colliding a particle of matter with a particle of antimatter, then harnessing the resultant energy and channelling it into giant capacitors around the gun. Given the sheer destructive force unleashed by an uncontrolled matter-antimatter reaction, we decided that this would be the best method of erasing the Leviathan problem."

Ekarra looked stunned, _"Antimatter?! You're setting off antimatter charges on __Khar'shan__?!"_

"Don't worry!" Hermione butted in, "We ran simulations back on our ship. Each of the charges stored in our shuttles contains a very precise amount of antimatter, and we will be priming and syncing them for detonation at exact locations within the Reaper hulk. Maximum effect for minimum collateral damage. In theory we should be able to annihilate the wreck and its facility together without spraying the entire mountain range with radiation or shrapnel."

_"I see... I will __inform __my fellows on the Hegemony Council. We await your report. __Ekarra __out."_

The radio channel severed, Hermione turned to Harry, "So we both know exactly where to place the charges, then?"

Harry nodded, "Yes. To save time, we'll Apparate from place to place around the wreck, storing the charges in magically expanded bags until we need them. The miniature inertial thrusters we fitted to the original container before duplicating it several hundred times should stop the charges from drifting too far from their positions, and you've already set them to detonate simultaneously when the proper code is sent."

"Yes," said Hermione, "Just one thing... for safety, I've programmed the detonators so that they will only trigger when each of us sends half of a ten word phrase. Here's your half." She tapped her omnitool and Harry's chimed.

He checked it, "Got it. Let's move in and get to work."

-LatS-

It was eerie, walking through their second Reaper corpse in three weeks. Again, the shadows seemed to leap out at them from every dark corner as the two displaced mages Apparated from spot to spot inside the wreck, placing charges, programming in the detonation frequency and heading out again.

After a long three hours, Harry and Hermione reconvened at the shuttles and pulled them all back to a safe distance.

"Ready?" Hermione asked.

"Ready," said Harry, and sent his half of the code.

**IN ****XANADU ****DID ****KUBLAI ****KHAN…**

Hermione nodded and sent her half as well.

**…A STATELY PLEASURE DOME DECREE.**

Throughout the Reaper corpse, lights blinked from red to green on each and every charge, and holographic displays began counting back from sixty.

**"Code acknowledged," **said the Luna-VI synced to the charges, **"T-minus sixty seconds to detonation. Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven…"**

Hermione opened a comm channel, "_Cygnet _to Hegemony, do you read?"

Ekarra's voice replied, _"We read you, _Cygnet_. What is your status?"_

"Charges are primed. T-minus..." she paused to look over at the counting Luna-VI, "Forty seconds to detonation. You should be seeing some fireworks soon."

Harry tapped the controls, "I'll pull us back to the top of the mountains. I know we're outside minimum safe distance but considering our track record I'm fairly certain that _something _will go wrong."

The charges went off and for a change, their luck was holding, as the bombs did EXACTLY what they were supposed to do and detonated, vaporizing the wrecked Reaper.

"Well fuck me with a bottle," Hermione muttered, earning an incredulous stare from Harry.

"Yes, that _was _an invitation, and it provides a refreshing drink afterwards."

Harry smirked, "Well, who'd have thought it? The great, straight-laced Hermione Granger gets off on acts of mass destruction."

Hermione smacked him, "Prat! Let's get back to the Hegemony and pass on our report, then get back to the _Cygnus_!"

"Yes ma'am," Harry laughed as he pulled their _Cygnet _around, dispatching the others back to the _Cygnus _as their shuttle inscribed a graceful arc in the sky before streaking off towards the Hegemony's headquarters like a bullet.

-LatS-

"Welcome back, Captain," said Kanara as they passed where she was yelling at two of the vorcha mercenaries, "Have a nice time?"

"Yes, we did. We're taking on cargo destined for a colony in the Viper Nebula, Aratoht, so we're going to give Joker coordinates and tell Rila to plot a course."

"Alright. I'll deal with these two. I thought it was kinder than leaving them to Valkyrie and Yanis."

"What'd they do?"

"Stole food from the kitchen. Yanis caught them at it and it was only because I happened to be walking by that they didn't get skinned. Those two are very protective of their kitchen you know."

"It's just food... it's not like you can make a bomb from it or anything," Hermione commented, and got a funny look in response.

"Uhh... yeah... actually you'd be surprised at what you can make with cooking supplies," was the deadpanned response.

"Really?" Hermione said, but then Harry dragged her away.

"Carry on, Kanara. I should take this little pyromaniac upstairs before she rigs up a thermonuclear device with two coat hangers and a piece of string."

"I'm not that bad!"

The two bantering humans vanished into the elevator, and Kanara simply laughed before returning to berating the two vorcha.

-LatS-

"Rila, plot a course to Aratoht in the Viper Nebula. We've got a cargo coming aboard destined for there." Harry said as they walked into the bridge.

"You got it sir," came the prompt response.

**"Captain," **Luna said, appearing on the pad nearby, **"The ****batarian ****cargo shuttles have arrived. I am opening the bay doors for them to load."**

"Alright, Luna. Tell me when they're done. First things first though..."

He turned towards the door out of the bridge.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked.

"Where else? To deal with our difficult resident Alliance representative."

"I've had enough of her shit; it ends now or I'm sending her packing, I'd rather have her mother at this point, to think, Hannah Shepard is supposed to be the hardass of the family," Harry shook his head in amazement.

The Shepard they had took stubbornness to a whole new level. Next to her, a mule would look positively agreeable.

"Right," replied Hermione, lounging back in her chair, "Do you want me to come and help?"

"I might require your help in a bit, but not now. I just want to talk to her first."

Nodding to the two commandos outside Shepard's door as he reached it, he waited for Luna to unlock it before heading straight inside, "Sit down, we need to talk."

"I said sit, and keep your mouth shut," Harry said harshly when Jenny went to speak.

"What the fuck is the matter with you?" he asked bluntly. Shepard refused to respond.

"I asked you a question marine!"

Shepard glared at him, "I'm an envoy for the Alliance! You can't do this to me!"

"You were also assigned under my command, as part of this ship's crew.. your actions reflect not just on yourself but me as well, I could put your ass in the brig you know!" Harry said, not impressed in the slightest. "Your behaviour is a disgrace to the marines and the N7 program and in many places of this galaxy is enough to get you shot!" Harry slapped the desk. "Do you REALLY have that much of a big head that you don't care if you piss off someone to the point they blow that head of yours off?" Shepard looked angry, but said nothing. "Anyway," said Harry, "I've decided I've had enough of your behaviour, so I'm going to put a stop to it."

Shepard tried to get up, but Harry pushed her back down and put his hands on her shoulders.

"HELP!"

"You can scream all you want," Harry growled at her, "Luna's activated the soundproofing around your room; nobody can hear a peep. Now... _Legilimens_!"

-LatS-

"XO Granger, might I have a word with you?"

Hermione turned around. Benezia was standing in the doorway. "Of course, Matriarch. Let us retire to the lounge in my and Harry's quarters to speak. Rila, can you handle things okay?"

Rila nodded, not looking up from her galaxy map interface, "I'll be fine, ma'am."

Hermione nodded and led Benezia back to the lift, where they headed up a floor and settled into the lounge, "So, what did you wish to ask me, Matriarch?"

"How did you fund this ship's construction, if I may ask? It does not match common ship profiles; it is roughly the shape of a frigate, yet easily the size of a cruiser but with dreadnought weaponry. It has to have been a custom design, so how did you possibly pay such a price?"

Hermione smiled as she poured two cups of tea and handed one to the Matriarch, "Truth be told, we didn't exactly fund it by legal means. Our friend Kasumi... an arms dealer named Donovan Hock had murdered her friend and lover, Keiji Okuda and taken something very precious from his body. We helped Kasumi get it back and, as revenge, stitched Hock up to get arrested. We took the contents of his vault and sold it all on to fund our ship."

"And what kind of things did you find?"

"Oh, the Statue of Liberty's head, Michelangelo's _David_, some turian art... oh and I remember one Egyptian statue."

Benezia stiffened, "An Egyptian statue? Like this one?" She activated her omnitool and showed Hermione a picture.

"Yes, that's exactly the one. Where did you get this picture?"

Benezia stared into her tea for a second, "This piece... currently sits in pride of place at the T'Soni estate in Armali, back on Thessia."

-LatS-

"...Huh."

Harry was in Shepard's mindscape, looking around. The woman was standing at his side, blushing furiously.

"You know... I would have expected something a little less... feminine... from the hero of the Skyllian Blitz."

Shepard scowled and folded her arms, "Shut up!"

It was indeed feminine. Bright, fluffy pink clouds hung over a rolling meadow dotted with flowers of every description, and roaming amongst them were rabbits. Pink ones.

Harry picked one up and examined it. "Memory," he muttered, and tossed it over his shoulder, "Never mind. Back to why I'm here."

He set off to where he could see dark, brooding clouds in the distance; what he guessed to be the source of Shepard's negative attitude.

-LatS-

Hermione's eyes bulged, "We... sold that piece... to _you_?"

"It would appear so."

Hermione set her tea down and laughed, "Well... this is most certainly awkward. Kasumi did mention that, and I quote verbatim, "asari go nuts for that kind of thing"."

Benezia laughed this time, "And indeed we do. I cannot tell you how many of the guests at my last little dinner party before I came aboard were jealous!"

The pair laughed for a moment, then Benezia eyed the statue's picture, "Alas, the beauty of it is tainted for me now. Would you care to take it back?"

Hermione nodded, "Of course. Or we could just have Kasumi set up a deal and sell it on directly. You would get half the proceeds, I assure you."

"A kind offer, but no. I do not need it, also it would be a poor example that an asari Matriarch is taking the proceeds from fencing stolen goods."

"I see. In that case, we can invest your share into an asari charity of your choi-" She broke off and stood, smiling, "Harry. How did your meeting with Shepard go?"

Harry shrugged, "She's had a trying day. I left her sleeping off her exhaustion in her room."

Hermione gave her a deadpan look, "You slept with her didn't you?"

"No, not yet. I think she might be coming around a little however."

Benezia gave an amused chuckle.

Harry focused on her for the first time, "Greetings, Matriarch. What brings you to the Eyrie?"

Hermione hit him on the arm, "Harry, that isn't its name."

"It's what I call it. And I am _el jefe _here, XO."

Hermione opened her mouth, then sighed, "Ah yes, of course, _el capitan_."

Benezia cleared her throat, "If I might interject with your flirting?"

Hermione blushed, "Yes, I'm sorry Matriarch. It's just the way that he is..."

Benezia laughed, "Asari have a very liberal view on affection, Ms. Granger. What you are displaying to me is no worse than some maidens back on Thessia. Better, in fact."

Harry chuckled, settling into the chair and pulling Hermione into his lap. "So what do you need, Matriarch?"

"I received a message; it was routed to me by that ever-so-helpful A.I. of yours, Luna was it?"

Luna appeared as though the use of her name had summoned her, lounging on one of the settees, **"I am here to serve the crew of the ****_Argenti _****_Cygnus_****, and that is what I will do; be that redirecting mail to a particular ****crewmember's ****or passenger's omnitool or mediating a dispute as I have had to do four times today with Kanara's ****vorcha ****troops alone."**

"Again?" Harry asked.

"What caused the latest series?" He asked.

**"Two of the ****varren ****apparently mated. They were arguing over who owned the pups."**

"I'm not exactly an expert in alien races... but don't they both own them as the parents?" Harry asked.

The look on Luna's face is what clued Harry, the AI promptly started laughing at the look Harry took on.

**"Fooled you, Harry."**

Harry growled at the A.I., "If you weren't intangible, I'd discipline you for that one."

**"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep, Harry,"**

Then she smiled, happy to be there with them in some fashion.

Benezia coughed. Harry refocused on her, "My apologies, Matriarch. What was the message about?"

"There is a meeting on the Citadel between some of the higher-profile members of my people there. I have been invited to attend. The meeting is in a week's time."

"Luna? Can we do that?" Hermione asked.

**"Easily,"**

"In that case, tell Rila to plot a course for the Citadel. We can finally drop off that cargo shipment."

_"Course plotted, standing by," _Rila replied over the intercom.

"Joker, set course,"

_"On our way to the mass relay. ETA five minutes."_

"Alright then... Matriarch, can I interest you in dinner with us tonight?" Harry asked.

"I would be delighted."

"Do you have any food preferences?" Harry asked.

"Well, I am quite partial to... what is the human term... pisser?"

Harry, who had been drinking his tea, almost inhaled it up his nose. Hermione cracked up at his expression and almost fell off her chair, while Luna burst out laughing.

"I think you mean _pizza_," Harry gasped, wiping his face with his sleeve.

"Yes, pizza... are you alright?"

"Just a bit startled." He stood up, "I'll go and ask Valkyrie and Yanis if they can make us pizza. Back in a while."

"Plain cheese pizza, Harry," Hermione said firmly, "And you, Matriarch?"

"I am unsure. I will try some of each of yours, if you will allow me."

Hermione shook her head, "You won't want to try some of Harry's. He likes it _really _hot."

"You could use it to weld titanium."

"It's not that bad, Hermione. It tastes quite mild actually."

"Only because your taste buds have all shrivelled up and died! The last time I tried some of that, I felt like my eyes were going to catch fire!"

**"Harry, she has a point... the last time you made that, the fire-alarm wards on your house triggered and drenched us all with water,"** Luna spoke.

"Hermione wasn't complaining when her shirt pretty much turned invisible, was she?" Harry pointed out, making the brunette blush scarlet.

**"No... I guess she wasn't. Then again, neither was Neville," **Luna smiled wistfully.

Benezia chuckled and stood, "I will return to my quarters. I must inform Shiala as to where I will be for the next hour or so, and I wish to collect something." She returned ten minutes later with a long necked bottle. "This is a special brand of Thessian alcohol from Armali, cyaberry wine. It is about four times as strong as... what is the name of that human beverage? Vodka?"

"Four times stronger than vodka, huh?" said Hermione, as Harry walked in behind her floating two pizza plates, one which was smoking ominously, "That stuff probably has quite a kick."

Benezia ended up downing quite a few shots of the alcohol she'd brought.

Harry, not to be outdone, challenged Hermione to a drinking contest.

What happened next, no one was really quite sure; their memories were rather hazy.

-LatS-

The next morning, Hermione stirred. She felt so warm, even if her head hurt so much. She opened her eyes, and found herself looking straight at a naked Matriarch Benezia, with an equally naked Harry sleeping just behind her with his arm draped over the Matriarch's shoulders.

Her shriek woke the other two, who sat up clutching their heads as Hermione herself winced and swiftly waved her hand, banishing the hangover. Two more waves, and the other two were looking at each other in confusion.

"How did we...?" Benezia began to say, before they were interrupted again.

"Matriarch, you didn't come back to your quarters last night. Did something- BY THE GODDESS!" Shiala stood in the doorway, looking _horrified_. As the trio turned like meerkats, her face contorted into rage and she yelled, "HOW DARE YOU DEFILE THE MATRIARCH, HUMAN PIG!" and launched a Warp directly at Harry.

"Oi!" Hermione yelled, blocking the Warp, "Cut that out!"

Shiala, all but breathing fire by now, charged, spitting dire threats and curses at Harry as she brought her biotics to bear... only for her feet to be quite literally yanked from beneath her.

Benezia stepped forwards to her squirming disciple, her arm raised from having captured her with her own biotics, "Peace, Shiala. What is done is done."

"But they defiled you, Matriarch!"

"Shh... you're too stressed."

Benezia didn't know whether it was just the post-sex endorphins or something else that made her do it, but she casually flexed her biotics and exploded Shiala's jumpsuit off her body, "You need to calm down, Shiala. And this is the best way to do it."

"Damn, they sure didn't break the mould with asari," Hermione commented.

Harry couldn't help but agree. Shiala was being held spread-eagled, allowing the two humans to view her lean, trim and attractively toned figure, noting as they did that she was quite gifted in the breast department, being a full size larger than the matriarch herself.

"M-Matriarch?" squeaked Shiala.

Benezia caught her lips in a kiss, "You're talking too much Shiala. Just lie back and enjoy this."

**smut scene redacted; refer to ****HPFFA ****for full lemon; link is on profile**

**"Sorry to interrupt the festivities, Harry," **Luna's voice interrupted his attempt to get to sleep, **"But we will arrive at the Citadel within four hours."**

Harry threw a pillow at Luna's holopad, "That's enough time for us to sleep. Now sod off."

Outside the room, Yanis whimpered. From what she had just seen through the door... her master was a sex god.

She was never leaving this ship.

Ever.

-LatS-

_"Unidentified ship, this is Citadel Control. Broadcast your identification or we will use lethal force against your ship."_

Falere nodded to Harry, indicating that he was on the line, "This is Captain Harry Potter of the _Argenti __Cygnus_. We seek to dock with the Citadel, we have an asari Matriarch on board."

_"Sure you do. Do you also have sixteen tons of red sand or something?"_

Harry glanced at Benezia, who nodded, "Citadel Control, this is Matriarch Benezia. Please direct us to a docking bay with the widest clearance you have; our ship has a rather significant wingspan."

_"Matriarch __Benezia__? Oh my, I am sorry for the delay, my lady. Uploading __coordinates __now."_

Harry spoke, "Take us in Joker. Fold in the wings."

"Did we even test that system?" Hermione asked Harry, "Past the initial deployment I mean?"

"Not that I recall, no."

"So basically we're flying into a docking bay not wide enough for our full wingspan without any kind of certainty that our wings will fold in properly, in which case we're all going to die."

Joker flipped up a safety cover and pressed the button, causing a muted and barely detectable vibration as the wings folded, much like that of an ancient Earth jet fighter's would.

"Looks like it worked," he commented as the _Cygnus _glided in and landed.

Hermione nodded.

"Captain," said Joker, "Bear in mind that this bay isn't large enough to accommodate our rear half. Half the ship is outside the energy barrier maintaining the atmosphere in the bay."

"Don't say it," Hermione warned Harry.

"Couch for you if you do," she threatened.

"What was I going to say?" he said in an unconvincingly innocent tone.

Joker, who'd heard what he assumed Harry was inclined to say once before... whistled as he crutched past them. "I'm going to go have a lie down while you're busy Captain, try not to get into any shootouts or crash someone's skycar while you're here? I don't feel like paying bail today,"

"Cheeky pilot," grumbled Harry, "Whatever happened to respect?"

"Earned sir, not given, wake me when you're done," Joker disappeared into the corridor out of the bridge.

"Right," said Harry, "First thing is to meet with the Council. From what Benezia tells me, it would be good to make sure that they know of us."

"She also said it probably will be, in her words, fun and amusing," though Hermione had the distinct feeling the last part was meant sarcastically.

"You'd think we'd be seen at the time we were given," Harry muttered irritably.

"I mean, what's the point in allotting a time if you're not going to keep it?"

They had been waiting for well over three hours in the chamber to be called.

"I'm at the point where I'm of the mind that if they want to see me... they can come find me,"

Truth be told, Hermione was of similar mind, and even the Matriarch was annoyed, which was rare, she usually kept her emotions concealed from her face when in a political situation.

At long last an asari approached them and said, "The Council will see you now."

"About bloody time," he muttered under his breath.

It was a mark of her own irritation that Hermione hadn't corrected him as she usually did more by habit than any real attempt since their arrival in this part of the timeline.

They were escorted up several sets of stairs and onto a narrow pier over a grassy area below. Across from them stood an asari, a turian and a salarian.

"So, you two are the owners of that strange ship that docked here a while ago with an asari Matriarch on board?" sniffed the turian, "I'm not impressed." He waved a hand dismissively.

Harry scowled, "I'm sorry, but is it common practice here on the Citadel to make people wait for hours only to insult them? It certainly isn't such where I'm from."

"Where I come from, people actually show basic common decency and respect, and _don't _make people sit for hours, when they might have had other business to attend to later in the day," Harry rebuked the councillors.

The turian was looking incensed, "How dare you-"

"I dare because it's a mere courtesy, something _you_ seem to lack!" Harry snapped, before turning to the asari and salarian councillors and speaking in a perfectly modulated tone, "I apologize for that little argument... now, what questions can I answer that will assure you that I have no intention of causing madness and mayhem here on your station?"

"You can allow a representative on your ship," the asari Councillor suggested before the turian could open his mouth, no doubt to harangue Harry for insisting on a common courtesy.

"That'd be nice; we already have an Alliance representative on board. Now, I've heard a lot about your Spectres and STG. Do you want one, the other, or both?"

"Both," the salarian Councillor interjected.

"Of course," said Hermione, "Shall we await your deliberations on the matter?"

"Yes, someone will contact you when we have finished," the asari Councillor replied, understanding their irritation with earlier, really, that was bad manners on their part, and disrespectful.

"Very well," said Hermione, "Shall we remain on the Citadel in the meantime? We do have some tasks to perform on the station."

"That will suffice," the salarian Councillor agreed.

"Right," said Harry, turning around, "Let's get moving."

They wandered the commercial ward, browsing, many had said the citadel offered an extensive selection of various things, so it made sense to take a look.

"Let's check the next level, I want to see if there are any upgrades we could use for our omnitools," Hermione suggested.

"There's one," Harry said, pointing.

They boarded it, noting two figures standing at the back as they entered; a hanar and what Hermione identified from her Codex as a drell. The door swished shut and they started moving downwards.

The drell abruptly doubled over, in some discomfort.

Hermione saw, and discreetly began scanning the drell with magic.

"What's wrong with him?" Harry asked the hanar.

"This one's friend Mr. Stark is suffering from Kepral's Syndrome," the hanar replied.

"I remember reading about that," Harry said, as he helped the drell get up and exit the elevator, settling onto a bench.

"Not a pleasant way to go, I'm sorry," He apologized.

"It's... nothing..." wheezed the drell.

"Harry," said Hermione, "Can you check these readings? This looks familiar."

Harry looked over her shoulder at Hermione's omnitool and blinked, "You're right. That looks like... hmm... cystic fibrosis, I'd say."

"That is impossible," the hanar commented, "That is a human condition,"

"I said _like_ it. But... cutting the blood's ability to carry oxygen... yes, that's like cystic fibrosis. Even better... Hermione, weren't we curing that back home only a short while ago?"

"Yes, yes we were... I wonder..." Hermione's voice trailed off as she consulted her omnitool.

"What's going on?" asked Finn, coughing slightly.

"Right," said Hermione, crouching in front of the drell, "You see, my friend here and I have access to some specialized biotics... there's a high likelihood that we can cure your Kepral's Syndrome."

"If you can do that," wheezed Finn, "I will owe you a great deal."

"What do you actually do as a job?" said Harry.

"I'm a doctor. My friend Temassinder here is a scientist in a lab down on the Wards."

"Really? Huh. We need a doctor and a scientist on our ship."

Temassinder spoke, "If the honourable human helps this one's friend, this one will happily ally itself with the humans on their ship."

"Likewise," said Finn, "I would happily join you."

"Good enough for me," said Hermione, reaching forwards to place a hand on Finn's chest, "Now hold still. Harry, I'm going to need a bit more juice to pull this off."

Harry put his hand on her back and focused, channelling raw magic into Hermione's system.

They stayed sitting there for a long couple of minutes before Finn suddenly gagged, covering his mouth with one hand. Harry turned and reached out with his biotics, grabbing hold of a waste bin mounted on the wall and wrenching it free, pulling it across and suspending it in front of the drell, who immediately vomited into it.

Hermione winced at the sight of the black, tarry liquid pooling in the bin, but pushed on with her work.

Finally, after a long and tense five minutes, Hermione sat back and took a long breath, "How do you feel?"

Finn drew a breath, coughing a little to clear the last of the bile from his mouth. Harry surreptitiously Vanished it and walked away to reattach the bin to its mount. "I feel... better. Much better. I can actually breathe again!"

Hermione smiled, "I was hoping that would work."

Finn nodded, "It certainly did. Now... I believe we promised to sign on with your crew if you helped me?"

Hermione tapped her omnitool, "I will give you coordinates. Go collect whatever you wish to bring and take it to the ship, the _Argenti __Cygnus_." She reached out and caught Finn's arm as he moved to walk away, "One more thing. According to the Codex entries for drell, you are more suited to arid environments, correct?"

"Yes... that's actually how Kepral's Syndrome is caused; breathing air with too much humidity for too long."

Hermione nodded, "I see. Well in that case... the living quarters on our ship are specially designed. We're able to fit airlocks and such to them so we should be able to create rooms specifically suited to both your individual needs if you like."

Finn exchanged a glance with Temassinder before saying, "Exactly how 'suited' are we talking?"

Hermione gave a small smile, "Suited enough that we could even fill a room with water for your hanar friend, if need be."

Finn nodded, "I see. We will meet you at your ship, in that case."

Harry appeared at that moment, smiling and holding out a hand, "Welcome aboard, Doctor Stark."

The drell shook, and they went their separate ways.

"Well," said Hermione as they headed towards an outlet for Saronis Applications, "That went well. We got a doctor _and _a scientist out of the deal."

"Indeed," said Harry, then paused briefly, "Don't look now... but I think we're being followed."

Hermione frowned, but otherwise did not react as they continued to walk along.

"Into the alley," Harry muttered, and they cut a sharp left into an alleyway and ducked behind a large bin.

A second later, a turian in what they recognized as C-Sec uniform ran past. Harry reached out and caught him with his biotics.

"Gah!" said the turian as he was hefted off his feet.

"And you are?" said Harry.

"Garrus Vakarian with Citadel Security..."

"Why were you following us?"

"Wanted to ask a question."

"Well... we're here now. What's the question?"

"Can you let me down first? It's difficult to think when all the blood is rushing to my head."

Harry put him down.

"Right, so what's this question?"

"Well," said Vakarian, "My superior, Executor Pallin, thinks I'm a hothead who needs to calm down a bit. He gave me some leave to consider my options."

"And where do we come into this?"

"I was on one of the observation decks this morning when your ship came in. You made quite an impression."

"So you want to join us?"

"Yes. I'm sick of red tape; I want to see how things are done outside C-Sec."

Harry glanced at Hermione, who nodded. "Welcome aboard, Vakarian."

Garrus seemed to smile, his mandibles twitched at least, "Thank you. You won't regret this."

Harry activated his omnitool, "You know where our dock is. Go home and collect anything you want to bring."

"Seems to be a banner day for recruiting," Hermione remarked, as they proceeded to the store to check out omnitool upgrades.

"Indeed," said Harry, as he began looking through a brochure.

"I have a feeling we aren't done yet though..."

-LatS-

They certainly weren't. They decided to go down further into the Wards to find somewhere to have a drink, and ran across a casino named Flux. As they were sitting at a table drinking, the third seat drew out and a hulking krogan dropped into it. "Oi, you two Potter and Granger?"

"That's us," said Harry carefully, "Who wants to know?"

The krogan smirked, the light from the nearby dance floor playing over the large pattern of scarring over one side of his face, "I'm Urdnot Wrex. I hear you two are recruiting."

"And if we are?" Harry asked, curious. What could a krogan possibly want with them? He decided he very much wanted to know.

"I'm in the mood for something other than just hunting deadbeats who skipped out on their latest payments to the local crime lords. I want something else to do, and you guys seems to be recruiting."

"To make something of your life basically," Hermione commented.

"Basically," Wrex agreed.

"Welcome aboard then," Harry said after a moment, tapping at his omnitool. "Our ship's berth location is on your omnitool, head home or wherever you're staying and pack anything important,"

"Ha! Only important thing I need is my gun!"

"Then feel free to head for the ship now. Try not to use your gun on board. There's another krogan aboard who'll help you settle in."

"Though if you feel the need to shoot something... she'll show you the training range, I strongly suggest using the weapons there, for safety's sake.. we don't need holes in any of ours from ricochets; save it for the enemy."

Wrex grinned, "Got it." He stood, paid his tab to the volus bar owner, and left.

"Lets see... we've got a drell, a hanar, a turian and now another krogan... what's next, an asari and a quarian at the same time?" Harry jokingly asked.

"I think we actually have enough asari and quarians now, Harry, even if the quarians aren't staying for much longer."

"6 o'clock, wearing the skin-tight number," Harry abruptly changed topics.

"The one who looks like sex on legs and could probably kick someone's ass without really breaking a sweat?"

"Yeah. She's been watching us pretty intently for the last ten minutes. Let's lead her on a walk." He stood up and walked over to the bar to pay their bill.

She had the strut down pat, they noted, the one meant to both put someone at ease... and try to seduce them.

After a few minutes walk, they decided to repeat the trick they had performed on Vakarian and took a sharp turn down an alleyway.

The woman quickened her pace as her targets disappeared into the alley, only to turn into the alley and realize they were gone.

"Looking for someone?" she felt a hand on her shoulder.

The tall, black-haired male stood behind her, looking intently at her. She couldn't suppress a slight shiver; those green eyes seemed to stare into her soul. Turning back, she saw the brunette step out in front of her, and decided to cut to the chase.

"My name is Miranda Lawson," she began, "I represent a group dedicated to safeguarding and advancing humanity's position among the stars, and I have been sent by my immediate superior to try and make contact with you, and offer an alliance."

"Well? Name your offer," Miranda realised she'd lost herself in those vibrant green eyes for a long moment.

"Your... your ship seems to have some technology which is more improved than normal ships... if you would allow us to study it, we would be happy to provide other information and technology in return."

Harry's mouth formed a smirk. When the woman had looked him in the eye, he had probed her mind. He had all the information he needed now.

"Hmm... we decline. Sorry, but this organization sounds a bit too terrorist, anti-alien for me."

Miranda blinked, then drew herself up, "How, exactly?"

"You said you safeguard and advance humanity's position amongst the stars. Would that include advancing it _over_other races? No, we'd prefer to be free agents than bigots."

Miranda scowled, "I think you're making a mistake, but no matter. Cerberus has enormous resources, and we will not be denied long, Captain. You will join us, one way or another."

Harry turned back, and Miranda felt her blood run cold. Those eyes were no longer so warm and intense, now they were frigid and hard. She had made a big mistake.

"Is... that... so...?" He said softly.

Miranda opened her mouth to respond, but the male's hand flashed out faster than she could blink and knocked her unconscious.

"Hermione," said Harry, "Apparate her back to the ship. Store her in our rooms until we can figure out what to do with her."

He would enjoy 'persuading' her to give up _everything _she knew of Cerberus... and he thought Hermione deserved a new pet for all her hard work.

His omnitool chimed as Hermione picked up the unconscious woman, and he checked it.

"The Citadel has decided on its representatives. I'll head up there to meet them."

"Okay," said Hermione, "Have fun." She adjusted her grip on her burden and Disapparated.

"Right, fun, that's an interesting way of putting it," Harry muttered. A new pet and some punishment for that, he decided.

Shaking his head, he set off.

-LatS-

"Ah, Captain Potter," said the asari Councillor as Harry entered the human embassy on the Presidium.

"I received your message... my XO is otherwise detained so I was forced to come alone. You have selected your representatives?"

"Yes," said the salarian Councillor, "My own chosen representative is still on my homeworld of Sur'Kesh, so you will have to collect him from there... but we do have our chosen Spectre representative here."

The door behind Harry opened, and he turned.

Harry wondered who upstairs was intent on tormenting him... they were giving him a turian Spectre who had that same through and through 'human insect, must step on' mentality he'd seen in other turians, and more than a few asari.

He was obviously tall, like most turians, easily two metres or taller. He had grey skin and the usual fringe, with a black hood-like strap fitting over his crown just behind the front spikes of his fringe. His eyes were dark and beady, calculating, and as Harry met them he felt a chill down his spine.

The turian stopped in front of him, and sneered.

"Captain Potter," said the asari Councillor, either oblivious to or tactfully avoiding the topic of the tension between them, "Might I introduce our chosen liaison to your ship..."

Harry nodded, sticking out his hand, "A pleasure to meet you, Mr...?"

The turian's sneer was obvious in his reply as he ignored the extended hand, "Arterius. Saren Arterius."

**(A/N: So yeah, between homework and stuff this took a great deal longer than it ought to have. I swear, I have no idea where that second lemon came from; we (my consultant ****XRaiderV18 ****who handles all my lemons and myself) had intended to have ****Benezia ****slowly warm to Harry and Hermione over the course of a long time. Having them get completely ****rat-arsed****, screw in a drunken haze and then fuck the head of ****Benezia's ****personal guard came as a shock. Anyway, this chapter is finally done and I can post it. Don't kill me for the cliff-hanger. Coming next chapter... ****Sur'Kesh****, the Migrant Fleet and maybe a lemon with a certain redheaded and ****newly-reprogrammed ****Alliance Commander, since I couldn't fit into this chapter. Until next time folks! ****Leonineus****, OUT!)**

**(A/N 2: So apparently FFN's Document Uploader is inhabited by trolls. Stargatesg1fan1 was kind enough to notify me that when I uploaded the document and saved it after making a couple of edits on the site, it removed a lot of spaces from between words. I copy and paste it out into a Word document to correct, then paste it back and save... only to discover that it apparently decided to remove the spaces between every bold or italic word in the document. SORT IT OUT, FFN!)**


	7. C6: Fluffy's Last Hurrah

Lightning among the Stars

Chapter Six: Fluffy's Last Hurrah

**(A/N: First, a shout out to the guest reviewer called "HPfanficreader99". Harry and Hermione do not specifically refer to the Derelict Reaper as a Reaper straight away. The Reaper's design, according to the official Mass Effect wiki, is based on a species of cuttlefish called the Reaper cuttlefish. It is commented that the ship resembles a Reaper cuttlefish, but the specific name "Reaper" does not appear until they actually speak with Ehzra.)**

**(A/N 2: Oh yes, one more thing. Yes, I did a bit of a timeskip at the start of the previous chapter and forgot to include info about it. They took the rachni queen back to Suen and let her off the ship there, then while passing back through the Hawking Eta cluster Luna picked up the faint signal of the Derelict Reaper. I will correct this in due course.)**

Featuring:  
>Rosamund Pike as Dahlia Dantius<br>Natalie Raitano as Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani

Nassana Dantius  
>Rana Thanoptis<br>Alestia Iallis

"Would you be Ms. Nassana Dantius?"

The asari emissary turned around to see a tall male human looking at her with vivid green eyes, "Yes?"

"I have a shipment for you from Thessia?"

Nassana smiled, "Ah, excellent. Can you deliver it to this location on the Wards?" She held up her omnitool.

The human shrugged, "Alright. Will you sign for it?"

"Of course," she took the datapad he was holding out to her and tapped its interface, before giving him a smirk.

She saw a slight flicker in those green eyes before he frowned, "Thank you for the signature. You'll have your shipment in the Wards in a few hours." He turned and walked off.

Unseen by the asari, Harry scowled. Passive Legilimency had revealed that the asari had a major problem with ambition and wasn't afraid to step on anybody to get her way. He was going to leave her alone, but if she messed with him… there'd be a reckoning.

Calling up Kanara on his omnitool, he said, "Kanara, get the vorcha and load up the cargo into the _Cygnets_. Get the commandos to help you unload it on the Wards, ask Shiala for help."

_"Right away, Captain."_

Harry lowered his omnitool as Hermione emerged from the alley next to him, having just Apparated back from the _Cygnus_.

"Well?"

"I got our new _guest_ settled."

"What did you do with her?"

"Stunned, bound and left in the brig for us to deal with. Did you know we've got an asari down there?"

Harry blinked, "You know, I'd completely forgotten about her."

"Where'd we get her anyway?"

"Back when we rescued that quarian crew. She was watching the ones trying to assault Tali'Zorah, I killed them and brought her along when I carried Tali back to her fellows."

"You were trying to starve her into submission, weren't you?"

"Hey, seemed the best way to break her will."

"It was effective. She was begging for food and offered to give me a lot of information when I walked past. At least you remembered to give her a steady water supply."

"What did you do?"

"Got her a slice of bread as a reward for good behaviour and told her she'd get more once we heard what she had to see later."

"Good work." They boarded a taxi and headed back up to the Presidium, recalling that Benezia had identified her meeting as being there.

-LatS-

"Ah, Captain," said Benezia, smiling at Harry as he and Hermione exited the skycar and approached, "I would like to introduce you to some acquaintances of mine; Matriarch Lidanya, commander of the _Destiny Ascension_, the flagship of the Citadel Defence Fleet; Rana Thanoptis, a prominent asari neurobiologist; Alestia Iallis, a former disciple of mine who specializes in bioengineering; and-"

"Councillor Tevos," said Harry carefully, inclining his head to the last asari.

"Captain Potter," she replied.

Benezia's eyes twinkled as she looked at Harry, "Ah, I see you two have met."

"Yes…" said Tevos with an amused smile, "I have never seen anybody take Councillor Sparatus to task like that."

Hermione sighed, "I apologize for that, Councillor. We-"

"No, it is quite alright," said Tevos, "You were correct; it was most impolite of us to make you wait so long."

"Oh well," said Harry, "It's in the past."

"Councillor," said Lidanya carefully, touching Tevos' shoulder, "I have things to do. I will send you my reports on our last patrol tour later."

"Thank you, Lidanya. That will be all." The dreadnought commander nodded to Tevos, shook hands with the others, and left.

"Anyway," said Benezia, once her fellow Matriarch was gone, "Can I help you?"

"Not right now. Just wanted to warn you that we found a doctor and scientist for the _Cygnus_ and we found the recipient for the shipment from Thessia so do you mind if we borrow your commandos to get it down onto the Wards? Our usual loaders can't really step off the ship or they're going to be shot at."

Tevos frowned, "Who are they?"

"Vorcha. And now you know why we haven't let them set so much as a toe on one of our transport shuttles."

"…Yes, I can understand that reasoning."

"Anyway," said Benezia, "You said you found a scientist and a doctor, correct?"

"Yes. The doctor is a drell named Finn Stark and the scientist a hanar by the name of Temassinder."

Benezia chuckled, "A hanar scientist? Now that is a rarity. Has he seen what kind of a budget he is working with yet?"

"Not yet, no."

"Ah. Then I advise you observe his reaction. An excited hanar is a sight to see."

Alestia perked up, "If I might ask, what kind of a budget would this be? I've been angling for an increased budget for months."

Benezia chuckled again, "Enough that you may consider resigning and begging for a job, my disciple."

Rana addressed Harry, "What would be required for a job consideration?"

Hermione tapped the asari scientist's shoulder, "Simply send me a file with your various qualifications and such and I will give it a look over. I'm usually left in charge of handling crew matters by this one," she poked Harry in the ribs.

Harry opened his mouth to say something in response, but at that moment Luna popped up on his omnitool, **"Harry, can we speak a second?"**

Harry's eyes snapped to Tevos, who was regarding the tiny figure with surprise, "Luna, this isn't a good time."

**"I just need to know when you and Hermione are coming back. The quarians are getting twitchy, and I think Captain Ceya'Lana wants to talk to you. She even spoke to me directly, and we both know the quarian view on artificial-"**

"Luna!" Harry said sharply, "This is _not_ the time!"

"You have quarians on board?" questioned Tevos, "And that… is that an A.I.?" She shifted slightly, and Harry could tell she was adopting a ready stance to fight. Slight movement in the corner of his eye told Harry that Rana and Alestia had both stiffened.

"Peace, Councillor," said Benezia, stepping between Harry and Luna and the asari Councillor, "This is indeed an artificial intelligence, but not one like the geth."

Luna nodded, **"I was created from the mind of one of Harry's and Hermione's friends. I would sooner delete myself than betray their trust."**

Tevos looked at Harry, "And the quarians on your ship are alright with this?"

"Yes, they are," Hermione replied, "Though it was fairly tense at the off, they seem to tolerate her as long as she does not present herself to them directly."

Tevos frowned, "I see there is more to this story than any of us knows, but I will allow it to slide. All I will ask is that you restrict the activities of… Luna, was it?"

**"Yes. My name is Luna."**

"…Luna to your ship, or at least have her behave like a V.I. in public."

**"I can do that. I will return to the ship at once." **Luna saluted, then blinked out of sight.

"You have an _intriguing _crew, Captain," said Tevos mildly.

"Yes… yes we do."

"If I might ask, why did you not mention this to the Council during our original meeting?"

Hermione gave her a deadpan look, "Councillor, we did not have the Matriarch here present on that occasion. Had we pointed out that we had an artificial intelligence on board our ship, would you have even allowed us to leave the Council Chambers without an armed C-Sec escort?"

Tevos had to concede the point.

"Anyway," said Harry, "As you saw, Luna is not a hostile party. She is a close friend."

"I see. And you mentioned that you had a batarian on board?"

Hermione nodded and counted up on her fingers, "Around twenty-seven quarians, an elcor, a volus, twenty asari, ten vorcha, ten varren, a krogan, a batarian and now a drell, a hanar, another krogan, two turians and a salarian once we go to Sur'Kesh."

"And humans?"

Hermione thought for a second, "Counting us… eight." She had neglected to include the asari slaver prisoner, or the Cerberus woman.

Tevos nodded, but then her omnitool chimed and she looked down, "I am afraid I must take my leave. Sparatus wishes to convene on some topic or other. An honour to see you, Matriarch, and a pleasure to meet you Captain." She walked away.

"That… went better than it had any right to," Harry commented drily.

"Indeed," murmured Benezia, "You're both lucky I was here."

"More than lucky," Harry replied, giving Benezia an affectionate smile. So what if it ended up being a one time thing, Harry still held affection for Benezia; he was like that with all of his regular partners.

Benezia pretty much read his mind as she smirked, "I think I should be going as well. I would like to see about finding a nice cafe for some lunch before I return to the ship. See you later, Captain." She walked off, her hips swaying slightly as she exited. Rana Thanoptis and Alestia Iallis bid their own goodbyes, promised to send Hermione their files for consideration and left as well.

"Is it me or is she trying to get in your pants again?" Hermione asked.

"You have to ask… why?" Harry inquired, eyebrow raised.

"Considering I couldn't walk when I woke this morning… no, not really,"

"Alright, enough screwing around, lets get the ship squared away for departure," Harry commented.

"Not just yet," said Harry, looking over her shoulder, "We've got company."

A woman was approaching, and as she drew level with them she drew herself up, "Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani, Westerlund News. Am I to understand that you are the captain of that ship that has docked with the Citadel? The large silver one?"

"The _Argenti Cygnus_, you're correct. I'm Captain Harry Potter, and this is my XO, Hermione Granger."

Hermione smiled and nodded.

"Well," said Khalisah, "Is it alright if I interview you? Our viewers would quite like to get an idea for your agenda here on the Citadel."

Harry gave her a swift Legilimency sweep. What he found made his lip almost curl. The woman was basically Rita Skeeter, looking for the best story at the expense of anyone who got in her way.

Then Harry got an evil smirk mentally. The lady wanted a story… well she'd get one.

"Alright, fire away," he said aloud.

The reporter tapped her omnitool, activating her camera's spotlight, which shone onto both their faces as she spoke, "Here I have the commanding officers of the newcomer ship to the galactic scene, the _Argenti Cygnus_; Captain Harry Potter and his XO, Hermione Granger. Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, our viewers would like to get an idea of what your intent is and what you will bring to bear here."

Harry cleared his throat, "Hermione and I are simply trying to get by at the moment, taking jobs shipping cargo and transporting passengers from place to place to establish a viable financial base. We do not intend to wage outright war with anybody."

Khalisah frowned, but her expression quickly cleared, "Very well. How about the rumours that the two of you have consented to allow Council representatives aboard, but not Alliance representatives? Is this a sign that you are allying with the Council races at the expense of your own?"

"Such rumours are unsubstantiated. Yes, we have allowed the Council to elect representatives to serve on our ship, but we do already have an Alliance representative on board from a visit to Earth prior to our arrival here." Hermione piped up.

"Very well," Khalisah repeated, before attacking from a different route, "But sources also indicate that other than the concession in allowing an Alliance representative on board your ship you otherwise refused to allow the Alliance to examine your ship, which has been rumoured to be technologically advanced beyond the current Alliance standard. Do you not think that the Alliance could benefit from this advanced tech? As a matter of fact, do you not think you could better serve your own people by joining forces _with_ the Alliance?"

Harry shook his head, "You did not listen. We are attempting to remain impartial at this time. Free of any allegiance save to ourselves, myself and my crew can in effect provide a far more useful service on the galactic scene specifically because we are not bogged down with red tape. I believe the phrase was once put forward, "A problem is never solved by sitting down and discussing what to do about it; action alone is the key"."

Hermione smiled behind him; Harry was echoing words Harry had said to Dumbledore, in a moment of frustration with the Order's inaction against Voldemort, the only difference being that Harry chose to say it in far more polite terms on this occasion. She doubted Dumbledore had ever been called a "doddering old fool" before and if he had, it was unlikely that there had been so many words with F's and C's in them involved to pad out the insult.

To be honest, that scene had been amusing on many levels on reflection.

"Right," said Khalisah dubiously, now looking somewhat less than confident in her ability to get a good piece out of this that didn't make her look like a fool, "Let's discuss your crew in that case. You mentioned that you had at least one human aboard in your Alliance representative, but what of the rest? A ship the size of yours cannot possibly function with only three."

"It doesn't," said Hermione calmly, "Our crew spans multiple different races of all backgrounds, from asari to elcor. We have made our best efforts to provide comfortable living and working conditions for all on the _Cygnus_, and every member of our crew is greatly appreciated for the part they play to the greater whole."

"Everyone aboard has a purpose, a role, and they do fulfill their roles well, even on occasion exceeding expectations when it is called for," Harry was determined to put this woman down, figuratively speaking.

"But your crew is not entirely human?"

"I don't believe that was ever said," said Harry coolly, "I draw your attention back to Ms. Granger's previous words; our crew spans multiple different races of all backgrounds, from asari to elcor. As long as they do their jobs to the best of their ability, do not compromise my ship and treat the rest of the crew as they themselves expect to be treated, I could not care less what species they are."

It was oddly amusing to watch al-Jilani's mouth open and close, attempting to formulate a comeback to Harry's and Hermione's firm defence of the multiracial nature of their crew. Finally she said, "Very well… this has been an enlightening conversation Captain Potter, XO Granger. I have no more questions at this time." She stepped in front of her camera, "And there you have it, viewers; a declaration of motive direct from the mouths of a hitherto-unknown quantity. This has been Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani. Have a good evening." She tapped her omnitool and deactivated the camera. Nodding to Harry and Hermione, she walked away without a word.

Hermione waited until she was out of sight before collapsing in a fit of giggles, "Oh that was brilliant, Harry! You handled her perfectly!"

"What a complete bitch," was Harry's response. "She reminds me of Skeeter so strongly I wish I had a can of insect spray!"

Harry had not forgotten.

He never did.

Hermione laid a hand on his shoulder, "We'll deal with her later. For now, we should go and prepare to return to the ship."

-LatS-

Harry and Hermione arrived back at the shuttle bay a little while later to find Temassinder and Finn talking, Garrus examining his boxes with his omnitool, and Saren and Wrex glaring at each other.

"Do I even want to know or am I better off not knowing?" Hermione was the one to ask this time, as Harry walked past to unlock the shuttle.

"Krogan and turians just don't get on," Wrex growled as he hefted a weapon crate onto the shuttle, "Keep him out of my way."

Saren flared his mandibles as Wrex passed.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Harry asked.

"Watch out for him," growled Saren, "Krogan are trouble."

_"So are you,"_ Harry thought, but held his tongue, _"I'm watching you, Arterius. I don't trust you."_

Shiala had arranged to pick Benezia up on her way back from dropping off their cargo with the commandos, so Harry gave the order for the Luna-V.I. to take them straight back to the _Cygnus_ as soon as everyone was strapped in.

"This one is curious," Temassinder said, as the _Cygnus_ grew larger in the _Cygnet_'s forward window, "What kind of resources will I be working with on your ship?"

Hermione leaned backwards and smiled back at the hanar, "Very high-end equipment and a budget with a lot of zeros in it."

"And me?" Finn asked.

"Again, high-end equipment."

"…" The hanar was verbally speechless when shown what he'd be working with on Hermione's omnitool… but Benezia had been right; his physical reaction was a sight to behold.

"Huh," said Hermione, as she climbed into the back of the shuttle and crouched down to check on the hanar, "Is he alright?"

"He'll be fine," said Finn, leaning down, "I think he just overloaded his gravity belt with excitement and hit his… well, what passes for his head. He'll be fine."

Wrex was chuckling behind them, "Oh, this will be fun."

"Never a dull moment in this loony bin," Kasumi walked in through the hanger as they were unloading the still-dazed hanar after landing; no doubt off to her favorite spot for relaxation, the sweet spot. There was something about the reversed gravity of the area between the bow plate and the artificial gravity generator that she found comforting, though it might as well have been her ability to sit upside down on the ceiling and not feel an instant and unpleasant rush of blood to the head that she enjoyed.

"Off for some relaxation, captain," Kasumi commented.

"Alright, just be available if we need you," Harry replied as he propped the hanar upright.

Valkyrie appeared at that moment, walking towards them along the gantry, "Captain, we're all loaded and ready to get underway." The two _Cygnets _carrying Shiala, the commandos and the Matriarch flew in and set into their cradles at that moment.

"Good," said Hermione, "Please escort our new crewmembers to their new residences, if Phoenix has finished configuring the individual rooms for Temassinder and Dr. Stark."

"He has, he reported that to me five minutes ago."

"Good."

"Alright, let's get under way then. Luna, inform Rila that she needs to plot a course for Sur'Kesh."

**"At once, Captain," **Luna replied, keeping her voice even and modulated. As per their standard protocol, she was pretending to be a V.I.

They knew this bothered Luna a lot, but considering matters outside their control there was little they could do.

Speaking of matters outside their control…

"Captain Potter!"

Harry turned as he stepped out of the elevator onto the crew deck, "Captain Ceya'Lana. Can I help you?"

"Yes," she said, "I wish to speak to you concerning the Migrant Fleet."

"Do tell,"

The quarian took a deep breath before saying, "I believe it is time for my crew and I to return to the Flotilla. I will provide your navigator with the necessary coordinates."

"I'm sorry to see you and yours go, it was nice having you aboard," Harry commented.

Ceya nodded, "And it was a pleasure to feel so welcomed."

Harry beckoned her over to the mess, where he had a few brief words with Valkyrie and turned back towards her. A few seconds later, Valkyrie placed two cups of coffee, one dextro-amino with a straw and the other levo-amino, on the counter. Harry picked up both and offered the dextro coffee to Ceya, "I must admit, I am curious about the quarian people. Would you mind giving me some insight? I would rather not arrive and end up offending your people out of a lack of knowledge on them."

Ceya's head tilted slightly to the side, "I must admit, Captain… that is the first time I have heard that particular request. I would be happy to provide you with information, to an extent."

Harry smiled as they walked into the elevator and headed up to the Captain's quarters for their talk.

-LatS-

Harry's talk with Ceya'Lana was most enlightening but ultimately infuriating, as Harry soon discovered. That an entire race had been abandoned as a lost cause and forced to live like gypsies for a _mistake_ seemed, to him, a vile injustice.

After Ceya had left to get her crew ready for departure, Harry called Hermione up and explained what he had learnt. Hermione was even more indignant than he was, but she forced it down and said, "This could be an opportunity, Harry."

"How so?"

"Well, we're trying to build bridges. We stopped the terrorist attack on Khar'shan and got the batarians' support, we got partial asari support by giving them the solution to the Ardat-Yakshi issue. After we visit the quarians, there could be something we can do for them."

"Maybe, but first we have to stop by Sur'Kesh and pick up our new STG representative."

"Indeed we do."

There was a pause, and then a knock at the door. "Come in!" Harry called.

Shepard stepped through, and Hermione immediately realized there was a change in the woman's attitude. Rather than the cocky strut she had had before, Shepard was walking quietly and even a little demurely, "Hello Captain."

"Shepard, can I help you?"

"Yes," said Shepard, nodding, "I… I figure it's time I apologized for my behaviour, so…" she began toying with a button on her shirt.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and smirked.

"Alright," said Hermione, taking charge, "On the bed, on your hands and knees. And lose the clothes!"

**smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile**

Half an hour later…

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked, as Shepard came to, laying on top of him.

"Sore, used, and quite satisfied, Harry," Shepard stretched like a cat, and winced as her lower half chose to remind her of the abuse it had suffered.

She sighed as something cool and tingly was massaged into her abused parts.

"Medigel," Hermione said, "I'm sorry if I hurt you,"

"I'm fine. Besides, I think I like being used that way, the loss of control is… freeing," Jenny replied.

"Well, we can always make it a regular thing," said Hermione hopefully.

"Perhaps someone's not done yet…" Shepard shifted.

The next morning…

"You know… I think we were a little rough on her last night," Harry remarked.

"How do you figure?" Hermione asked.

"The fact that she was in pain from having her virginity roughly taken and she came back for more after waking. I know some people like pain; take Kasumi for instance, she's tiny yet she insists on having all of me in her. Last night however… never like that again, that was crossing a line," Harry said.

"Well… no taking virginities like that again anyway…" he amended as Shepard curled into his side in her sleep… and he could have sworn she was purring with satisfaction as she did so.

"…Hermione?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Is it possible she's got some feline in her somehow?"

"Good question,"

**"Harry, we're midway to our destination,"** Luna announced, appearing on the night table's holopad.

"Thank you, Luna," said Harry.

"How are the engines holding up on their first real speed run?" Hermione asked.

**"Performing 75% above specification Hermione, I've had to slow us back to theorized maximum speed to avoid any possibility of burning them out until you and the engineers can give them a once over,"** Luna replied.

"That's good. Can you have Dr. Stark bring up some medigel please?" Hermione asked, "We were a tad… rough with Shepard last night and we used up our stash,"

**"Of course,"**

"Run that past me again?" the drell asked the V.I. five minutes later.

**"Captain Potter and XO Granger exhausted their supply of medigel healing the injuries from a bout of rough sex with Commander Shepard."**

"That's what I thought I heard. Very well, I'll be up in twenty minutes; I have to finish off inventory on our medical supplies first and I've been working on it half the night," Stark replied.

**"You could have asked me to do that, Doctor."**

"True, but any good medical professional always does it themselves; the ones who truly give a damn anyway,"

**"Correct. I will leave you now."**

"By the way, ditch the V.I. act in here. I saw your little footprints in the computer system when I first accessed my terminal and they're way too sophisticated for a virtual intelligence."

Luna gave him a look, seemingly relaxing slightly, **"You are very tech-savvy for a doctor, you know. Your scientist friend hasn't even realized yet."**

Finn chuckled, looking at his terminal again, "Has he come round yet?"

**"Yes. He's currently trying not to pass out from excitement again after seeing his new lab. I should go now." **She vanished.

-LatS-

Harry, meanwhile, had left Hermione in charge of the still-unconscious Shepard, taking a swift shower and dressing before getting into the elevator and heading straight downstairs, intending to see how the new crew were settling in.

He had found Wrex at his new post manning the weapons station in the bridge (and thoroughly unnerving Joker with the happy grin he was sporting), and after advising him to head down to see the main gun in its full glory later on Harry had left for the crew deck.

"Oof!"

Two bodies hit the floor as Harry walked out of the elevator and straight into somebody.

"Ow…" groaned the person Harry had walked into, "I thig I broke my dose on the idside of by bask…"

Harry looked up, "Hello Phoenix,"

Phoenix struggled upright, "Hebbo Captib…"

Harry winced, "Yeah, I think you've broken your nose there. Go see the doctor."

Phoenix nodded, "Thed I deed to talk to you, Captib."

"Alright," said Harry, "I'm just doing the rounds, seeing how everyone's settling in. Maybe you should ask about Myxtin's implant while you're at it."

"Udderstood," said the quarian before moving away.

Harry watched him go, then made tracks directly across the mess hall to where he could see Garrus and Saren exchanging careful greetings by the kitchen.

"Spectre Arterius, Officer Vakarian," he said as he approached.

"Captain," said Garrus, as he took the tray of dextro food that Valkyrie had just given him with a smile before stepping round Harry and going to eat it.

Saren considered Harry, and the two sized one another up for a long moment.

"Want anything, Captain?" asked Yanis.

"I'll have a coffee please Yanis."

"Right away," the Ardat-Yakshi said, hurrying towards the coffee maker.

"So, how are you settling in, Mr. Arterius?" said Harry casually, leaning against the counter, "Your new quarters comfortable enough for you?"

"Yes, certainly," Saren replied curtly, "I must admit, your crew is a little more… _diverse_ than I had expected."

Harry could tell without Legilimency that the turian did not have a high opinion of humanity and decided to nip it in the bud, "I don't believe in the races keeping to themselves. As long as a person's actions do not compromise my crew or ship in any way I won't turn them away."

"Yes… that would be why you have a batarian aboard? And quarians?"

"The quarians we rescued from slavers a while back. After we visit Sur'Kesh, we'll be passing by the Migrant Fleet to drop them off. As for Chimera, he has more than proven himself useful heading up my Engineering team."

Saren's mandibles twitched slightly, "A batarian… and you still trust him with the vital components of your ship even considering your race's history with his? Accidents happen, after all."

"I believe I have given my answer on that, Arterius," said Harry carefully, smiling at Yanis and thanking her as she handed him his coffee. He met the turian's eyes one more time, brushing his mind with Legilimency. He could tell the turian had unsavoury intentions on his ship, but could not delve deeper in such a public area. A concentrated intrusion would raise more attention than he was willing to draw.

_"Just you wait," _he thought as he bid the Spectre goodbye and walked away to see how Temassinder was settling in, _"If you endanger my crew, and I know you will, the Council will be getting you back with a few bones broken. I just need the proof and I can get rid of you."_

-LatS-

Temassinder had indeed settled in well when Harry entered the science lab, but the hanar did have one concern.

"This one's problem, Captain, is that this one's gravity belt is not strong enough to allow it to use its tentacles to their full potential in this position."

Harry shook his head, "That isn't a problem. Ask my armoury officer Phoenix about increasing the output and possibly reconfiguring it so that you aren't restricted to a specific height. He can probably sort the issue out. Did your room meet your expectations?"

"More than this one expected. This one particularly enjoyed the addition of the Striped Dartfish and Belan Jellyfish. It reminds this one of its home on the Belan colony, and its visits to Kahje."

Harry chuckled, "That was Hermione's idea. We try to make our crew feel as comfortable as we can. That was just a slightly bizarre method of making you feel more at home on her part."

"It is appreciated. This one finds watching them soothing. But this one digresses. Is there something the captain requires?"

Harry nodded, "I need you to analyze something. A while ago we discovered a wreck which was giving off a signal. I need you to analyze our information on the signal and devise a method of neutralizing it."

"Why is this needed?"

"We discovered that the wreck's armour and barriers are far more advanced than our own, and its IFF was similarly advanced. As such we intend to integrate the tech into our ship, but we want to make sure this signal won't be a risk to our crew."

"What would the signal do?"

"We're not sure. Which is why it's a danger. We don't understand it. We _suspect_ that it can bend people to the will of _something_, but we don't know what that something is either."

"Understood. This one will begin its work at once."

"Luna," Harry said, "Can you give Temassinder the signal data?"

**"At once, Captain," **said Luna in a monotone.

"A.I.," Temassinder said, "This one is not fooled. It finds it fascinating."

**"Well, I'm flattered," **said Luna happily, **"So, what's your first thought on how to neutralize this signal?**"

Harry sighed and left the two to talk.

Garrus and Chimera were cracking jokes about the main guns at each other when Harry returned to the mess. "Hey, Captain!" called Chimera, beckoning Harry over.

"Yes?" said Harry, approaching the unlikely duo.

"Garrus here was just telling me he'd appreciate the chance to look at the MAC. Keeps talking about calibrations. Figured we should ask you since it's your ship."

Harry nodded straight away, "Go for it. Drawback of a weapons system like that is it needs constant maintenance. Do we have any turian-sized Faraday suits down there?"

"Not that I know of."

"Very well. Hermione and I will get one to you soon."

Garrus leaned forwards, "What's a Faraday suit?"

Chimera spoke up, "It's a metal suit designed to protect you in environments with live electrical tech."

"Like our mass accelerator," said Harry, "Thing about it is that there is so much electricity contained in the capacitors which power the gun, we had to triple-shield and isolate the entire deck because not only does the electromagnetic field mess with anything unshielded in the deck, but anyone venturing in there without a Faraday suit will become jerky in a matter of seconds thanks to stray lightning bolts jumping between the capacitors."

"I see. Yes, that could be a problem."

Chimera chuckled, "I'll introduce you to my engineering team. The boy, Kenneth, now has the nickname "Deep-Fry Donnelly" on the ship because he was in the MAC array when we test-fired it and he came out looking all sizzled."

Garrus laughed, "You know, that reminds me of a funny incident I had in my first few years of C-Sec…"

Harry left the batarian and turian joking around together as he walked off, deciding that Finn had probably dealt with Phoenix's nose by now.

It turned out he had; Phoenix was sitting on the edge of a bed putting his mask back on and talking to Finn when Harry entered the bay.

"Captain," said the doctor calmly, "I was just speaking with Phoenix here about the implant for Myxtin. Phoenix says he has the prototype running, but the implant will take a while to settle once it is implemented. Is this acceptable?"

Harry waved a hand, "Myxtin needs this to do her job, and I would not be considering it if she had not already been asked. Do whatever you need to."

"Alright, Captain. One more thing… I understand that our pilot has something called Vrolik's Syndrome. I would like to examine him at the next opportunity."

"Done," Harry replied, "I will inform him and he can make an appointment with you."

As he walked out of the medical bay, he tapped his omnitool, "Luna, tell Hermione I want to meet her downstairs in the brig. It's time to talk to our first guest."

**"Done, Harry," **she replied, as the black-haired captain moved towards the galley to collect some simple food.

-LatS-

The asari lying on the floor of the cell looked up as the door opened, admitting the brunette she had previously met and a black-haired male she recognized as being the one to capture her. He was carrying a tray laden with food, she realized as her mouth began to water and her stomach began to rumble.

"Right," said the male, setting the tray down just outside the cell as she crawled towards him, "Let's talk. You're going to tell me everything I want to know. For every truthful answer you give me… and I'll know if you lie… you get some food. Understood?"

"Y-Yes," whimpered the asari, trying to focus through the feeling of her stomach's spirited attempt at self-digestion.

"What is your name?"

"Dahlia… Dahlia Dantius."

"Dantius? As in Nassana Dantius?"

"Y-Yes… she's my sister."

The male pushed a couple of apples through a small hatch. The asari fell on them and started eating.

"Now… any assets of yours we might be able to make use of? Contacts, information, etcetera?"

"No," said Dahlia thickly, through a mouthful of apple. Almost instantly, the apple vanished from her hand and the second one was back in her male captor's hand.

"Lie," he said.

Dahlia hung her head, "Alright! I've got a couple of contacts in the Terminus, a few friends."

"Anyone we might find helpful?"

"Kuril works for the Blue Suns, works out of a prison ship in the Hourglass Nebula called Purgatory. Aleena's a bounty hunter, she usually helps me with tracking down particularly dangerous individuals to hand over to Kuril."

"Good. Now, if we let you out, you will contact Aleena. We could do with a bounty hunter on our side. First though…" He stepped into the cage, sat her upright and made her look into his eyes, "…A little insurance that you won't turn on us."

Dahlia looked into his eyes, saw them sparkle briefly, and then…

…nothing.

-LatS-

Miranda Lawson was concerned.

She was trapped on a ship, she knew that much, but other than that she could not determine anything about her current situation.

She had been bound when she first awoke in here, but a quick application of biotics had destroyed her bonds in seconds. The walls of her cell were a different matter. No matter how much of her biotics were applied, she could not even touch them; her biotics simply dissipated less than an inch from the walls.

Eventually she had opted simply to sit and wait it out. Somebody would be along soon, she could tell; they wouldn't just leave her here.

Miranda was shaken from her thoughts as the door opened and the pair who had apparently captured her entered.

"Well," the male said casually, "Shall we talk?"

Miranda stared back at him, "Depends on the subject."

"Why did you threaten us?"

"A point had to be made."

"Maybe, but surely if you were trying to get us on your side you could have come up with a better alternative. As it is, all you served to do was annoy us."

Miranda folded her arms, "Am I meant to be intimidated?"

Harry strode towards her, raising a hand. Miranda felt herself be lifted up and pressed into the wall at eye level. Dark grey eyes were forced to meet vivid green, then everything went black.

-LatS-

"So what's going on with those two then?" Hermione leaned forwards. She and Harry were seated in their room, working at their personal terminals.

"The slaver will be an operative working off our ship. As for the Cerberus woman… I dug a lot of information out of her head."

"Like…?"

"The location of Cerberus' central base. Given that Lawson's been shut in her cell without anything with which to communicate and you scanned her for bugs when you brought her aboard, they'll have no idea we're coming. After Sur'Kesh, we'll cut this issue out of the picture."

"What about the quarians?"

Harry sighed, "I would like to return them home as soon as possible, but every moment we delay in dealing with this particular threat makes it more likely that something bad will happen."

"Alright. Well…"

Luna popped up on the holopad, **"Harry, we will arrive at Sur'Kesh in an hour."**

Hermione nodded, "Thank you, Luna. We'll ready a _Cygnet_."

**"I have taken the liberty of having Falere contact Sur'Kesh control already via the comm buoys and she was able to give me coordinates for where we are meant to go."**

"Where?"

**"The STG High Command in the capital city of Talat."**

"Alright. Plug them into your Luna V.I. in the _Cygnets_."

**"Already done."**

"You thought of everything."

**"I aim to please."**

-LatS-

"Are you ready to go, Captain?"

The salarian on the other side of the desk straightened and saluted, "That I am, sir."

"Good, Captain Kirrahe. Do us proud on your new assignment."

"Sir!" a salarian guard entered the room, "A shuttle is approaching now. It must be the human captain we were informed about."

"Let's go and greet them then,"

-LatS-

Harry and Hermione had already taken one of the _Cygnets_ and were cutting a wide vapour trail down through Sur'Kesh's humid atmosphere.

**"Sur'Kesh has a particularly humid atmosphere," **Luna said, her holographic projection lounging on its pad on the control panel, **"The entire planet is an analogue for Earth's jungles; damp, hot, humid and likely full of things that can kill us. Luckily however we will be stopping directly in the salarian capital city."**

"Do we have any information about our new STG representative?"

**"I did some digging using a new code I developed for this, which I call the "attack Nargle", and managed to unearth some information. The representative's name is Captain Kirrahe; he's been a notably talented agent of the STG for quite a while now."**

"You don't say," Harry mused.

**"I could dig deeper and access his dossier if you wanted,"** Luna offered.

"No thanks," said Hermione, "That'll be fine. We'll be there in a matter of minutes anyway."

**"There appears to be a welcoming committee awaiting our landing, captain," **Luna remarked.

"So I see," Harry replied, "Head back to the ship, Luna. We'll see you later."

**"Understood."**

Harry turned to Hermione, "Let's take this puppy down then."

Hermione nodded and looked at the Luna V.I., "Take us down."

The V.I. nodded and turned back to the main screen, the _Cygnet _banking smoothly towards the ground.

The landing struts slid out and the shuttle landed smooth and gentle, testament to the improvements made to the V.I.'s programming over the past few weeks.

"Captain Potter?" said a salarian as soon as they stepped off the ship.

"I am he," Harry replied.

"I am Padok Wiks, assigned to bring you to your representative at the building."

"Of course," Hermione spoke up, "Lead the way. Without sounding impolite, we have pressing matters elsewhere to deal with. I hope you understand."

"Everyone's been busy of late," the salarian replied, "Think nothing of it,"

"Let's go then,"

-LatS-

They entered a nice small office complex.

"Considering the asari, I was expecting fancier and bigger, but that's an unfair expectation and disrespect towards the salarian race. Different people prefer different architecture, after all." Harry commented.

"Yes," said Hermione, "I quite like it though… it's peaceful."

"We like it," Padok commented.

"I can see why," Harry murmured. It was true; this place _did _make him feel more tranquil than anywhere else he'd yet been.

Harry idly wondered if they could get some plans or something, perhaps refit an unused room on the _Cygnus_… he could easily spend all day here relaxing.

"Captain Potter," said a voice, as another salarian approached them wearing armour, "I am Captain Kirrahe, the STG representative assigned to your ship."

"Captain, its good to meet you," Harry said, extending his hand.

"Likewise," he said.

Harry began laying things out to the salarian as they sat and actually had a pleasant conversation.

"I don't have your file, so I don't know your skill set or where to put you, everyone on the ship has a job or in a few cases jobs, where skill sets and training permit," Harry said, "Obviously you have the task of observing and reporting to your government on what you experience on our ship, but we do enjoy it if our crew and passengers take on additional roles. The asari matriarch who rides with us for example has more or less taken on the task of organizing the ship as a whole; our "major-domo" if you will."

"Something which is an endless source of amusement for her as well," the woman with Captain Potter remarked.

Kirrahe thought for a second, then nodded, "I will see what is available when we arrive at your ship."

"That is fine. One more thing however…" Harry said as a thought struck him, "If you have any problems with other races, that must be addressed at once. My crew is heavily multicultural, ranging from asari, turians and humans to quarians, batarians and krogan. I will not accept intolerance of any kind on my crew, so if that is the case with you then we will have a serious problem. Am I understood?"

The salarian looked him dead in the eye. "Your ship, your rules," was about the only answer he could give.

"Good. In that case, let us leave. As I said to Mr. Wiks earlier, we have a pressing matter to deal with."

"Of course. What of my belongings?"

"We can load those directly onto our shuttle."

"I see. In that case, lead the way."

-LatS-

They made good time in returning to the _Cygnus_, whereupon Harry left Kirrahe in Hermione's capable hands to give him a tour while he headed upstairs, giving Phoenix some instructions to find Valkyrie and set up a room with a slightly more tropical climate for the STG representative.

**"**Rila," he said as he entered the bridge, "Plot a course for the Horse Head Nebula. I want the _Cygnus_ to stop in orbit over Noveria. Hermione and I will take a _Cygnet _from there."

"Understood, captain," said the Ardat-Yakshi softly, before turning to her console and beginning her work.

The ship came about gracefully, departing orbit.

_"Harry, Valkyrie says she wants to talk to us upstairs," _Hermione's voice came over the comm.

"Did she say what about?" Harry asked.

_"Only that it's something we're uniquely suited to help her with,"_ Hermione replied.

His curiosity piqued, Harry made his way upstairs.

They found an unsure but determined Valkyrie sitting in a chair, waiting for them.

"Harry, Hermione, I… I want to feel pleasure,"

Harry glanced at Hermione, who smiled happily, "Of course."

**smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile**

**"Harry, we're almost to the Horse Head Nebula."**

"Thanks, Luna." Harry mumbled as he extricated himself from the unconscious asari and reached over to poke Hermione's shoulder, "Hermione, it's time to get up."

"Don't wanna… warm…"

"Hermione, we need to go and get ready to go and deal with this little threat." He was careful to avoid the name Cerberus, even though Valkyrie was still out of it from pleasure overload.

Hermione muttered and nodded, drawing herself free of where she was hugged against Valkyrie's back and crawling to the edge of the bed.

-LatS-

Miranda Lawson was sitting up on her bunk in the brig when Harry and Hermione entered, each dressed from the neck down in combat armour and with their Locusts attached to the hip plating.

"Time to go," commented Harry, "We're in the Horse Head Nebula, and going to the Cerberus base. You're getting us in there. And since we don't trust you not to double-cross us and call the alarms once we get in there…"

Hermione waved her hand, "_Imperio_."

Miranda's expression instantly went slack. "Walk," Hermione commanded as she opened the cell.

They boarded a _Cygnet _and shot straight out of the launch bay, angling towards the coordinates Harry had picked out of Miranda's head as Luna cycled up the _Cygnet_'s miniature FTL drive.

On the ship, Saren approached Benezia from behind, "Where are those two going Matriarch?"

"They didn't say. I was simply told that they were leaving me in charge while they were gone."

"I see," Saren appeared thoughtful, before shrugging, "I will go hand in my first report on the ship."

Benezia nodded, "Very well. I must go see to my daughter as it is; I doubt she has left the research office they let her use in a week."

"If I might ask, Matriarch," Saren said, his voice dropping to a purr, "Do you trust these _humans_? How do you know they don't intend to double-cross you? I have seen that human, Potter. He seems just like the rest of his species, arrogant and determined to promote his species at the cost of all others. Even yours. How long do you think it will take before he is trying to turn your own _daughter_ into an eager pet?"

Benezia drew herself up, "If that was your first impression of Captain Potter, then you are far less perceptive than you seem to believe, Spectre Arterius. Since I have joined his crew, I have seen that human hold an asari justicar off to protect an Ardat-Yakshi, save an entire crew of quarians from slavers when there was no reason why he would do so and even make a trip directly to Khar'shan to save the batarians from a dangerous and potentially self-destructive mistake. Arrogant and determined to promote humanity at the cost of all others are _not _the first things I would describe him as."

Saren snorted, "Then it appears he has already turned you into a pet himself."

Benezia stared at him, "You draw dangerously close to the line, Spectre Arterius."

Saren gave a mirthless chuckle and walked away.

-LatS-

_"This is Cronos Station Control hailing unidentified shuttle. Present identification and clearance or we will shoot to kill."_

Hermione waved her hand, forcing Miranda to answer, "Operative Miranda Lawson, here with two new recruits to our cause for a meeting with the leadership. Clearance authorization: Psi-Six-Lambda-Nineteen."

_"Authorization acknowledged and accepted. Welcome, Operative Lawson."_

"Good," said Harry, "And now to meet your boss."

"Yes, sir," Miranda said in a blank monotone.

The shuttle settled into a docking bay and they disembarked, Miranda leading the way as Harry and Hermione followed behind her.

It was a long walk through the base, which was brightly lit and full of people moving about rapidly. They occasionally stopped to stare as Miranda walked by, Harry and Hermione occasionally scanning people's minds as they passed. The information they found ranged from fascination in the newcomers, lust in those looking at Miranda and some rather sickening xenophobia in more than a few.

"After we're done here," Harry muttered to Hermione, "We'll need to do a little cleaning."

"Agreed," Hermione murmured.

They walked on, and finally came to an empty corridor with a door at the other end.

"Here we are," Miranda said tonelessly, "My boss's office."

"Good," said Hermione, waving her hand, "Now stand here and deter anyone coming in."

Miranda nodded, and the duo opened the doors.

The office was huge; they could have fitted two full-sized houses in it with room to spare. Directly across from them, an immense window looked out onto the star the station orbited, glowing blue and spreading flickering patterns across the walls. Below it, a curving wall of screens hung in front of a single chair, in which a figure was seated with its back to them.

"I assume you're the head of Cerberus?" Harry said as they approached.

"That I am… I am somewhat impressed by how quickly you were able to get here. I assume you are the one responsible for Miranda dropping out of contact?"

The figure turned the chair around and Harry and Hermione tensed, preparing for an attack.

"That we are," Hermione said, echoing the figure's words, "Now, if I might say, you seem a little too… feminine… for the impression we got from Miranda."

The figure stepped forwards into the light.

A turquoise evening gown covered what both Harry and Hermione could identify as being an almost sinful hourglass figure, falling to dainty feet encased in matching slippers, while an attractive face framed with locks of red hair looked attentively at them with sharp grey eyes.

The woman smiled, "I am the leader of Cerberus. You can call me the Illusive Lady."

**(A/N: BEFORE the pitchfork-and-torch-wielding mob comes to rip me to shreds, I wish to say that this is _not_, repeat, _not_ a genderbend. Why there is a woman running Cerberus rather than the Illusive Man will be explained in the next chapter. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and GOODNIGHT! Leonineus, OUT!)**


	8. C7: Pride Goeth before the Fall

Lightning among the Stars

Chapter Seven: Pride Goeth before the Fall

**(A/N: And here we have it, the next chapter to Lightning among the Stars! Now, about the Illusive Lady... I am surprised. So far I've heard people guess that it's a descendant of either a Weasley or Susan Bones, the original Eva Coré, Hannah Shepard (and I have NO IDEA where that one came from...) or an OC relation of Jack Harper. You are all... WRONG! I based the character off the antagonist of a recent "sci-fi" film by a particularly well-known British comedy duo (I'll let you guess who), and she is played by the same actress as well. As for how she rules Cerberus rather than the Illusive Wanker (if you'll excuse my language), that will be revealed in this chapter. Saren will also likely get his own comeuppance as well. Oh, and a character we all know and love will return, but I'm not saying who. You'll just have to wait and find out.)**

Featuring:  
>Sigourney Weaver as the Illusive Lady<br>Stana Katic as Shala'Raan vas Tonbay  
>Claudia Black as Daro'Xen vas Moreh<br>Liv Tyler as Lina'Xen vas Taren nar Moreh  
>Brooke Nevin as Ceya'Lana vas Kyten<p>

Tela Vasir

"The Illusive Lady, huh?" Hermione said, "And the reason why our research into your organization indicated that the original manifesto was written by an Illusive _Man_?"

The woman laughed, lounging easily in her chair, "You know how these things work, don't you? Titles pass on. A leader is succeeded by his heir. I may not be the Dread Pirate Roberts, but I'm confident I am the next best thing."

"References to _The Princess Bride _aside," Hermione said, "The one thing we really do _not_ agree with you on is the idea that you threaten us and our crew if we don't join you. What do you _want_?"

"My dear child; I want to protect humanity, nothing more, nothing less," the woman replied.

"That said, I am not sure I agree with Miss Lawson's... heavy-handed approach. I'm afraid that is a legacy of my predecessor."

"Be that as it may... she's ours now," Harry said, "I don't take kindly to threats, and she is learning such things have a price when one underestimates their target and gets captured,"

The Illusive Lady bristled, "Lawson is my lieutenant. I will not give her up so easily."

Harry leaned forwards, his eyes hard.

"Then you don't know me nearly as well as you pretend to. Do not pick a fight with me, "Illusive Lady". You won't win," Harry said coldly.

Hermione shivered. The last time she had heard Harry use that voice was before he fed Riddle his own wand.

"I don't care if someone comes after me, never have, but you come after my ship, my crew? I will end you. We're done here," Harry stood.

The Illusive Lady went for the concealed pistol strapped to her leg. The last thing she saw as she raised it and pointed it at the brunette behind the impudent black-haired man was a flash of light, then everything went dark.

-LatS-

"Well, I did warn her," Harry remarked as the woman was floated into the medical bay.

"I'm surprised you were so restrained," Hermione remarked.

"Indeed. Luna, start datamining their servers would you?"

**"Of course, Harry. I should also indicate that I am picking up a strange signal from that woman. Shall I use my Wrackspurt codes to confuse it?"**

"Go ahead Luna, I want it blocked so much that the only thing it'll be recognizable as is static," Harry said. "I want her scanned so completely we know what she had for Sunday breakfast last week,"

"That I can do, Captain," Stark replied, setting up a specialized medical scanner meant for deep tissue scans. These were useful if you had patients like a krogan or quarian, where the former's dense bone and muscle structure interfered with standard scanners, and the latter's environment suits all but blocked them entirely.

Another thing they were damned useful for was finding implants, and the captain's remarks told the drell that was precisely what he was to scan for.

"Come on Hermione, let's go. We'll get a night's sleep and then head to the Migrant Fleet." They walked out.

"I'm betting you did something very stupid to upset that man," Stark remarked to his unconscious patient.

Harry and Hermione had proceeded up to their quarters. Inside, they found a surprise waiting.

"Yanis? Can we help?"

The young Ardat-Yakshi looked nervous, "Hello, mas- captain. I was wondering if... if..."

"If you could spend the night here?" Hermione asked, a sly smile on her face at the near slip.

Yanis nodded, blushing.

**"Harry, Yanis has watched your last few exploits, particularly with the Matriarch and her disciple, then with Shepard. I believe she wishes to ask for her turn."**

Hermione smirked, looking at the nervous Ardat-Yakshi, "Is that so, Yanis?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

"No," said Hermione, moving closer to the asari, "Tonight, it's Mistress for me and Master for Harry. I know you were going to call him that."

Yanis blushed, but nodded and inclined her head submissively.

"Get on the bed," Harry ordered, and Yanis almost fell over in her haste to obey.

**smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile**

Harry and Hermione woke early and showered, leaving the worn out Yanis and sleeping Kasumi on their bed with a note saying where they'd gone.

**"Harry, our prisoner is awake."**

Hermione nodded, "Thank you Luna, I'll go and speak to her." She left, taking one elevator down to deck three.

Meanwhile Harry took the other down a level, entered the bridge and began issuing orders.

"Set a course for the Migrant Fleet, best speed please," Harry asked. They'd delayed the quarians unacceptably in his mind with this never the less necessary detour.

"Aye, captain, shall I let her run a little while I'm at it?" Joker asked.

"Why not, we need to see how much faster she runs than we designed her to anyway," Harry replied. "Work with Luna, make sure we don't blow up or something else equally unfortunate,"

"Aye sir," Sometimes Joker really loved his job, this was one of those times.

The _Argenti Cygnus_ came about with her customary sedate grace, before leaping to FTL speeds for the nearest relay.

"Captain Ceya'Lana to the bridge, Captain Ceya'Lana to the bridge," Falere said into the comm.

-LatS-

"I'm on my way," the quarian captain replied.

"We're heading to the Fleet now," Harry said simply when Ceya'Lana entered the bridge.

"My crew will be most happy to finally be home," The smile was audible in Ceya's voice.

"I'd like to apologize for our earlier unexpected detour, I had our helmsman open up the throttle a bit to make up the time," Harry said; in truth he was quite pleased with that little test run.

Ceya laughed, "Captain, in my time aboard this ship you have not only been kinder to my crew and myself than anybody else outside our Fleet, giving us comfortable rooms, engaging work and excellent food, and don't even get me started on how beautiful this ship is. If anything, you'd be having trouble keeping the quarians _off_ your ship! There is nothing to be sorry about."

"Maybe I should offer tours and or postings if any are interested?" Harry mused.

He certainly wasn't about to turn away willing and able help, he was all too aware his ship was still just less than adequately crewed.

"Keep behaving in this way to our people," said Ceya as she turned to leave the bridge to get her crew ready, "And you'll have them lining up to serve,"

Harry blinked and swore he saw a sway to that woman's hips before shrugging. He wasn't going to go looking when they seemed to flock to him already as it was.

"Captain, I've got a large number of ships on the sensors," Joker said at that moment, as they dropped out of FTL.

"How many?"

"I'm not sure. What's the last count for how many ships were in the Migrant Fleet?"

"At last count, fifty thousand ships carrying over seventeen million quarians," Ceya replied, sticking her head back through the door.

"Just when I think I can't get any angrier over their situation..." Harry muttered under his breath. He didn't even want to know what Hermione's reaction was going to be, she could be a mite bit scary when on one of her crusades.

"Falere, open a channel to their flagship," Harry instructed.

"Aye Captain,"

As soon as she signalled that the channel was open, Harry spoke, "This is Captain Harry Potter of the _Argenti Cygnus_. We have quarian crew on board, requesting permission to dock so that they may disembark?"

_"Verify,"_

Ceya walked back in and approached, "Frozen world or fertile loam, naught will prevent my return to home."

_"Verified. Welcome home, Captain Ceya'Lana. It is a relief to know you are alive."_

"It's good to be home again,"

"Captain, we've got docking instructions incoming," Falere remarked as she transferred the information to Joker's console.

Those instructions took them to one of the biggest ships in the outskirts of the Migrant Fleet, and one of its oldest at that.

Harry scowled as they drew closer, "No offence, Captain Lana, but that thing is held together with spit, prayers and duct tape."

"None taken, she's an old lady." The _Tonbay_ had been in service since 20 years before their exile from Rannoch, and it was nothing short of a testament to quarian engineering that she was still going.

They were able to move up against an external docking tube, whereupon Harry and Hermione donned sealed suits and followed Captain Ceya'Lana through the tube into the _Tonbay_.

The suits were a surprise to Ceya'Lana, and showed a level of concern and respect she hadn't expected.

"Auntie Raan!" yelled Tali as they emerged from the tube, running to hug a quarian woman ahead of them.

Said quarian found herself flat on her back on the deck from the tackle hug.

"Someone's happy to be home," Raan replied, hugging Tali to her.

"Auntie," said Tali happily, "When the slavers captured us I thought it was all over... But then Harry showed up!"

"Is that so?" asked Raan, looking towards the human Tali was gesticulating towards, "Then I assume I have you to thank for returning Tali, Captain Lana and her crew?"

"I hate slavers," Harry replied, "I'm glad I was able to help,"

Raan nodded approvingly before looking down at Tali, "I trust you were well-treated?"

Tali nodded enthusiastically, Ceya'Lana offering a more elaborate explanation when Raan looked to her.

"Quite well in fact. Captain Potter is a most gracious host."

"Just doing what anyone else should do," said Harry smartly.

"He's also overly modest; it's not everyone who would go to bat for us with a few now since wiser detractors,"

"Actually... Raan, was it?" Harry spoke up.

"Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, at your service."

"Very well Admiral, perhaps I might ask a few questions about your people..."

-LatS-

Three hours later, Harry and Hermione returned to the _Argenti Cygnus _in a towering fury.

"This injustice is sickening!" Hermione hissed as they entered a lift and pressed the button for their quarters.

Harry nodded. He himself was too angry for words.

"Although..." Hermione's expression changed, she looked more pensive now, "We could take this opportunity."

"How so?"

"We're still sitting on an insane amount of money. We can spare the expense. We also have Kasumi and Fitle Nix, and the time field plates. And we're still in Aria's good books."

"What are you getting at?"

"We build the quarians a few ships as a gesture of goodwill."

"Good ships, the kind that are of use long after we move on," Harry elaborated.

"Ideally, I'd guess that liveships would be best. Capable of supporting large populations on board and also producing large quantities of food."

"Alright then. What's the plan?"

"We need to go back to Omega first, and speak to Aria."

"I'll help with that," said Liselle happily as she walked round from the elevators, "Mother will help."

"Liselle, hello," said Hermione, "What are you doing here?"

"She wanted to talk to you."

"She? Who is she?"

Liselle stepped back and allowed the Illusive Lady to approach, "She is me. Now that free, I be."

"First _The Princess Bride_, now _Dr. Seuss_?" Hermione said, "Good grief. That wasn't even a decent attempt."

"Focus, Hermione," Harry admonished, turning to the red headed woman, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Everything and anything to do with my bastard creator's plans."

"Anything specific?" Hermione said.

The woman seated herself on the settee as Liselle moved to the coffeemaker, "I want to help you out, but I need other things first."

"Like what?"

"Access to my old resources for one. Your A.I. can make sure I am up to nothing fishy. Second, I need Miranda."

"How do you know about our A.I.?"

"Please, there's no way you could have known about the control chip which your drell just removed without at least a V.I., and the way that asari," she nodded to Liselle, "was addressing a wall monitor and calling it Luna, didn't exactly make it difficult to figure out."

They traded looks and Harry remarked "Damn."

To be fair, they had rather foolishly underestimated the Illusive Lady's mental faculties there.

"Alright," said Hermione, "You can use the research office behind the tech lab. I'll have our security officer let Miranda out of her room, and Luna will make sure to keep a very close eye on your extranet connection. Liselle, will you lead her down to the research office?"

"Of course, Hermione," said Liselle.

"One more question," said Harry, "What do we call you?"

The Illusive Lady tilted her head slightly to one side, "Good question. I suppose... my creator's name was Jack Harper. Call me Joanne."

"Alright, Joanne. I hope we have a fruitful partnership."

"As do I," Joanne said, before following Liselle out.

"That was both unexpected and welcome," Hermione observed.

"Indeed," was Harry's sole word on the matter.

"Anyway," said Hermione, "I'll go tell Rila to set a course for Omega. What are you going to do?"

"Probably lay the ground rules for Miranda before letting her out of the brig."

Harry paused a moment, before remarking, "And probably take a nap, long day so far,"

"Longer for Yanis, I think. Maybe you should go and take a look in on her to make sure she's fine," snickered Hermione.

"Yeah, I'll do that."

-LatS-

Miranda Lawson looked up as the door beeped before opening.

"Right, you're out. Your boss requested you as an assistant. First, ground rules. You will treat every member of this crew with respect. If I get any complaints about you, there'll be repercussions."

"Ok... how did you capture my boss? And why would she work for you?" Miranda asked.

"You helped. And she decided to change her allegiance because we removed a control chip from her brain, and now she's working against the one who controlled her."

"Wait... control chip?" Miranda Lawson now knew what it was to be put into a tailspin, figuratively speaking.

"The person you know as the leader of Cerberus, the Illusive Lady, isn't the _real_ leader. She was being controlled by the _real_ leader, the Illusive Man, who was using her as a puppet. Now that we've removed it from her, she has total control of all Cerberus' resources and is grateful enough to put them at our disposal. We've left her in charge of them, since she's best able to disseminate and utilize her assets."

"Right," said Miranda, sitting upright and inclining her head, "In that case, I'm with you as well. The Illusive Lady helped me in ways I can't even describe. I owe her more than anything. If she's sided with you now, then so will I."

"Very well." Harry stepped aside and gestured to the door, "If that is your decision, take the elevator up to Deck Three and walk through the tech lab to the research office in the back. You'll find Joanne there."

"Joanne?"

"The Illusive Lady. She picked the name for herself."

"I see. I will be on my way." Miranda walked past Harry out of the brig.

"And now it begins," Harry mused to himself, as he proceeded to go have that aforementioned nap.

Miranda was shown to where Joanne was busily setting up shop, rearranging everything to suit a set of personal preferences distinctly _not_ like herself when she was controlled.

Joanne it seemed, liked a bit of clutter and noise to the room if you will.

"This place is..."

"A mess, I know!" beamed Joanne happily as she got up from where she was lounging on the settee in the corner surrounded by datapads to hug the operative, "But it feels so comfortable not having to be... ugh... moved with strings anymore." She touched a slim finger to a narrow line of stitches behind her ear, parting dark red strands of hair to reach, "It's so liberating, like a headache I didn't know I had is gone!" She grinned, "Sit down, sit down, I've got plenty of ideas for ways we can use this stuff!"

Miranda shivered slightly as she sat. The Illusive Lady had once been so dignified and poised. Now she was all cheery and perky, like she'd had too much sugar. If this was the result of the control chip's removal, she was slightly unnerved by the consequent moodswing.

"Oh get that look off your face! I was always this way; I just wasn't able to let it out! Besides, being all prim, proper and whatnot is boring; not to mention it drove me batty!"

"Yes," said Miranda in an amused tone, "That much is clear."

"You should try it; might find life a good deal less stressful, besides I don't think that stick up your ass can get much thicker."

The expression on Miranda's face was, in a word, priceless. "Ma'am?" she said in a strangled voice.

Joanne giggled, "Oh the look on your face... and I thought nothing could ruffle your feathers!"

"And its Joanne! Not ma'am, not sir, not madam, Joanne!" She poked a finger at Miranda when she went to deny.

"Ah ah! My rule, use the name."

Miranda sighed, "Alright... Joanne. Shall we get on?" Inwardly she sighed. It wasn't really that unreasonable to expect her to change after hearing about the chip. Anyone would have gone a little crazy after that long under such restrictions.

Then a surge of fear swept up the back of her neck. Did _she_ have such controls? She'd have to find out. She stood abruptly, the stack of datapads Joanne had just put in her lap sliding to the floor, "I-I'll be back in a minute! I have to check something in the med bay!"

She took four steps towards the door, then a pad of some sort beside it lit up and what looked like a young woman of perhaps seventeen appeared, **"If you are concerned that you have a similar control chip implanted, Operative Lawson, I can assure you that you do not, unless the signal is beyond my capacity to detect."**

"I'd still like to be checked out, no offence, but I have to know for sure," Miranda said; she needed to know she was, besides her body's genetic engineering, all natural.

**"Very well. I accept your decision. I will inform Dr. Stark that he should fire up that scanner again. If you do have any foreign objects in your body, it will find them."**

"Thank you. And you are...?"

Joanne smiled, "By the way Miri, this is Luna."

"Nice to meet you... Luna."

**"A pleasure," **said the A.I., beaming at the woman before vanishing.

"That's gonna take getting used to..." Miranda muttered before heading for the lab.

Miranda didn't get to knock on the lab door before the doctor was saying, "Yes, yes, come in, Luna told me to expect you. Don't blame you for wanting to be scanned to hell and back, as Joanne calls it,"

"What do I have to do?"

"Just lie back on the bed and let the scanner do the rest." He pulled the large machine towards the bed he had indicated as Miranda climbed on and settled down.

"Contrary to how big and bad this thing looks, the scan doesn't hurt," Stark remarked, as he turned it on, using the same scan parameters he'd used on Joanne.

A few seconds later, a display lit up and started beeping. "One," mumbled the drell, tapping on his omnitool.

Five minutes later, the machine had finally finished what it was doing and had found no fewer than eighteen foreign entities in her body. Miranda was nervous now, very nervous.

"What the _hell_ did they put in me?!" Her nervousness had turned to anger.

Miranda had never been nervous for long.

"Doesn't matter," said Finn as he picked up a sedative needle, "They'll be out in a couple of hours. Just close your eyes and let me do the work from here on out, Ms. Lawson."

Finn Stark stared at the collection of devices he'd removed from Miranda Lawson's body a full hour later. Among them and by far the most mild was a device that'd ensure she never had children at all if triggered, which far as he could tell, it hadn't been.

He hadn't the words for this.

"Monstrous," he growled under his breath, turning to the still-sedated woman, "Absolutely monstrous. I hope you realize how lucky you are when you wake up; the Captain and his XO were the greatest thing that ever happened to you."

The worst one he'd removed would have fried her brain to a crisp if she'd showed even the slightest treacherous tendencies.

"Luna?"

**"Yes, doctor?"**

"Tell Temassinder that I have a load of little toys for him to examine."

**"Will do."**

"I want to know _everything_ they can do, even the uses they'd never been considered for."

**"Of course."**

-LatS-

"XO Granger," said Rila softly, "We will be arriving in Omega soon."

"Thank you, Rila. I will go and awaken Harry. Luna, please inform Liselle and have her meet us down in the shuttle bay."

"Right here," said Harry, walking into the bridge and yawning. "That was a lovely little nap. Just need to check a few things before we head to Omega, I suppose."

He checked his bank balance, just to make sure that if they needed to bribe Herren with another makeover or pay rent on the drydock, they had the money. After a second he blinked. After another, he walked to the intercom and tapped it, "Kasumi?"

_"Yes, Captain?" _the thief's permanently cheerful voice returned.

"Would you care to explain why our bank balance has doubled again?"

_"Hm? Oh, yes Benezia got me the contract to that Egyptian statue four days ago, so I sold it again. I'm surprised you didn't notice earlier."_

"Yeah well I've been slightly distracted."

_"I figured. I want another round some time. Kasumi out."_

Harry chuckled, "Alright, Kasumi. I think you deserve a reward for a job well done."

"Luna, where is Kasumi?" Harry asked, now that he thought about it, she'd sounded... like he'd interrupted something.

**"In the sweet spot, having a private moment, Harry," **the A.I. replied happily, **"Are you going to take her? Can I watch?"**

"Wow... voyeur much?" Rila asked. Word had gotten round that the captain and XO sometimes invited others to their bed, but a voyeuristic AI? That was a new one.

**"I am what I am,"** Luna said simply.

"Don't ever change."

**"Noted."**

As Harry left the bridge, Falere and Rila exchanged a glance. They were both interested in the human who had freed them from the monastery, and consequently they both had plans to get him at some point. The glance simply confirmed what each already suspected; they were going to share a first time with him.

**smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile**

Kasumi was shaking as he held her half an hour later, and she kissed him. "Thank you,"

"For what?" Harry asked.

"Not treating me like glass, now, could you help me to Medical? I won't be any good to you laid up, and none of that apology crap, I asked for rough, and I got exactly what I wanted!"

Harry smirked and used a couple of Cleaning Charms before replacing both their clothes and carrying her up to the medical bay.

"And what happened to you?" Stark asked Kasumi a few minutes, whom Harry had by now set on a bed over in the corner near where Miranda rested; a few of the implants he'd removed had required invasive surgery.

"Nothing I didn't want," Kasumi remarked to the drell.

The smile on Kasumi's face said it all, someone had been _very_ satisfied. "Lucky bitch," a tired, sore and in some pain Miranda remarked.

Kasumi grinned at her, "You could get the same, you know. You look like you need to loosen up a little."

"Harry will take good care of you, as will Hermione, they'll only ever do what you want... assuming you've not been a bad girl, though, being bad can be fun," Kasumi grinned lecherously.

She was addicted to them, and she knew and admitted it to herself.

Miranda shivered and lay back down, trying furiously not to imagine herself being taken in every way by that man...

-LatS-

"Have fun?" grinned Liselle as she met Harry and Hermione in the shuttle bay.

"I think so," Harry replied sardonically.

"It was definitely different," Hermione remarked, trying hard not to blush.

"Anyway," said Liselle with relish, "I called ahead to tell my mother that you would soon be arriving and to expect you."

"Excellent. Let's move then."

The _Cygnet_ launched and approached with its customary graceful yet rapid pace, as the _Argenti Cygnus_ paid a visit to its home berth for the first time since its launch and commission date.

They were greeted at the dock by Gavorn, who escorted them to Aria.

"Captain Potter, welcome back," Aria stood and greeted them.

"A pleasure to see you again, Your Majesty," said Harry teasingly.

Aria chuckled, "Ahh, you humans and your wit." She sat back down, "What might you need today?"

Friendly banter proceeded as standard, and an hour later they left Aria several thousand credits richer while they were now able to use the drydock where they had once built the _Argenti Cygnus_ again.

"Next stop," said Hermione, "Back to the _Cygnus_ to pick up a few people, then off to see Herren."

"Why do we need some of the crew?"

"Bribe material."

"Bribe? Why- oh. Right."

Hermione chuckled and they continued on their way.

-LatS-

Herren was, as they might have guessed, half amused and half playfully frustrated when they had enlightened him as to their proposition. He probably would have refused, except the sight of Valkyrie, Yanis, Benezia and Shiala fired his creative drive to its peak and he finally agreed to make the revised schematics on the condition that he was allowed "onto the ship I designed with my own mind to give everybody on board a masterful makeover, if this is the best your crew seems to have!"

"Told you he was eccentric," said Harry casually as Herren directed Benezia to stand with her feet apart and arms out to her sides so that he could measure her with his omnitool, "But he's definitely good at what he does."

"Yes," said Benezia in a teasing voice, "If some of those outfits I have seen XO Granger in are any indication, he's excellent."

"Oh, I love working with asari!" gushed Herren, either unaware of their conversation or tactfully ignoring it, "So noble, so refined... tell me, Matriarch Benezia, what is your favourite colour?"

"Yellow, Mr. Wade."

"Excellent!"The turian clicked his claws together and rushed off amongst the racks of clothing, soon returning with an elegant evening gown in brilliant gold, "Please, try this on!"

Benezia glanced at Harry and turned to go into the changing room, a wicked smile coming onto her face.

As the curtain pulled across, Harry gave an internal groan. This was going to _hurt_.

-LatS-

Harry's prediction proved correct. The asari he had brought with him apparently all decided that they wished to flirt shamelessly, parading back and forth in front of him wearing the skimpiest outfits they could.

When they returned to the _Cygnus_, laden down with the new clothes for the four asari, Harry was almost painfully hard and dragged Yanis off to their quarters for some quick relief. When he left again half an hour later, the young Ardat-Yakshi was lying on her side on the bed, hugging her somewhat-distended stomach and looking happy as can be.

"Benezia," he said, catching the Matriarch's arm just as she left her quarters, while he was going to speak to Joanne about a message she had left on his omnitool, "Hermione and I will be away from the ship for a couple of days, would you hold the fort for us?"

"Of course, Captain," she said.

"Thanks," Harry replied, and went on his way.

"Alright Joanne," he said as he walked into the Research Office five minutes later to find the redhead immersed in several datapads, "What did you want to tell me about?"

"Ah, I have a few people you might find useful here."

"Like whom?"

Joanne handed him a datapad, "First this. Her name is Subject Zero, though she currently goes by Jacqueline Nought, or Jack for short."

Harry examined the image. The woman was pretty in a weird kind of way, with her shaved head, plush lips and fairly-decorated skin. "What can you tell me about her?"

"Biotic, crazy powerful, on your or XO Granger's level maybe, on Matriarch Benezia's level certainly. I would say she _is_ the strongest human biotic alive but you two somewhat put a hole in the title."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," Joanne nodded, then looked down, "Cerberus... was running experiments to create a super-powerful human biotic. She is the result. A Cerberus-hating biotics-slinging criminal super-bitch."

"I see. And where might I find her?"

"Purgatory. It's a maximum-security-"

"Prison ship in the Hourglass Nebula, run by a Warden Kuril? I know the one. And I have the perfect person to get her out."

"Who?"

"Back when we picked up that quarian crew, we picked up an asari slaver named Dahlia Dantius. After a few words, we managed to bring her onto our side, and she named names. Kuril was one of those names."

He held out the datapad to her, "Keep this one on ice. I'd like to think about it before I decide to bring her on. The other one you had for me?"

"Ah," Joanne picked up another datapad, "This one's a Cerberus operative we picked up along the way for a very particular unique talent."

"And this talent is...?"

"Full body modification."

Harry's spine stiffened, "Say again?"

"Full body modification. She can completely change her appearance."

Harry frowned, _"No... it couldn't be... could it?"_

Making a snap decision, he turned and said, "Call this operative of yours, get her here. I want to talk to her."

"Yes, Captain," said Joanne as he walked out.

"Hermione?" Harry spoke into his omnitool.

"You're never going to guess who Joanne's found,"

"Who is it Harry?" Hermione asked, walking around the corner at that exact moment.

Harry told her and Hermione blinked, "That... shouldn't be possible."

"Hermione, this is _me _we're talking about. When has anything _ever _been impossible?"

"Good point, you've never done normal,"

"Nope. Anyway, we need to find out when the first few shipments will arrive for the ships."

"Yes..." Hermione mused, "Something else we'd forgotten... the Reaper equipment we picked up. We need to drydock the _Cygnus_ so we can start fitting the armour and new shielding tech."

"Luna's been wanting time to more intimately study the _Cygnus_' systems anyways, this'd be the perfect time for that," Harry remarked. "Alright, talk to Aria, see if we can't shanghai the same berth we used the first time,"

"That's already set up for the new ships to be built in. We're going to need to get another or wait until after each ship's been built and move them out of range of Omega."

"Then let's do that."

"It'd take twelve months to refit the _Cygnus_' armour and shields. We'd be in the timefields for four and a half days, not counting time when we bring them down to move a ship out of the drydock and move the _Cygnus_ in at the end."

"So which do we do first, the _Cygnus_ or the new ships?" Harry asked.

"The new ships. We have the materials being shipped in already, so we'll need to get them used and out of the way."

"Alright, let's get it set up then,"

Hermione nodded, "I'll go make a start. Meet you in the drydock later on?"

Harry nodded, "Let's go."

"Luna?" Harry called.

**"Yes Harry?"**

"Spread the word; if anyone needs anything from me, best get my attention now. As soon as I leave this ship, Benezia is in charge."

**"Understood Harry,"**

As Harry walked past on his way to the elevator, Saren Arterius frowned and watched attentively from the upper level. He had been unable to overhear Potter's discussion with Granger, but suspected that it meant nothing good. Turning, he strode back into his office and began compiling his next report. Let the Council decide how to act on Potter's apparent friendship with the criminal queen of the Terminus Systems.

From a few doorways down, Captain Kirrahe also watched attentively. Something about the turian Spectre set his teeth on edge. Shrugging slightly, he turned back into his own quarters. He'd keep an eye on Arterius.

-LatS-

Harry finished packing his bag; it wouldn't do to get inside the field only to realize he'd forgotten something.

"So how long will you be away?" asked Benezia from the doorway.

"Only about four days. Then we'll be back to empty the _Cygnus_ of crew and drydock it for upgrades. You can hold the fort until then."

"That I can. Just one thing."

"Yes?"

Benezia moved closer, "Arterius. I am a matriarch of the asari, and we have specific instincts where other individuals are concerned. I worry about the Spectre. There is... darkness and anger in him. I think that he will at some point act against your crew."

Harry nodded, "Personally, I think something's off with him as well. Luna, please observe Spectre Arterius' movements."

**"Of course, Harry,"**

That done, Harry made his way to the drydock, where the last of the supplies were just arriving.

Hermione was busily cataloguing them when she saw him, "Ah, you're here. The timefield plates are all set up and we're all ready to go."

"Let's start 'em up," Harry replied.

-LatS-

**Four days later.**

"And we're done," said Harry in a satisfied voice.

"Four ships, one a day, I'm pleased," Hermione replied.

"And we'll be getting a _lot_ of gratitude from the quarians for these."

"That too."

"Yes. Now, we need to radio the _Cygnus_ to come down."

"Where did we stash the Reaper armour and whatnot?"

"Oh, they're over there," she waved a hand vaguely towards a corner.

Harry looked over and saw the bag in question. Walking over to collect it, he checked inside and brought it back over as Hermione began the slow, laborious process of deactivating the time fields and calling Joker to bring the _Cygnus_ in.

Joker lined the ship up and began backing her in, relying completely on Luna to guide him; the _Cygnus _wasn't exactly easy to fly backwards.

The docking braces swung in, along with external supply umbilicals and after a few seconds, _"Secure from docking stations, all latch ups secure,"_ Joker reported.

"Well done, Joker," Harry said, "Now issue exit orders please, Luna."

Luna nodded and broadcast through the ship, **"Attention all occupants of the **_**Argenti Cygnus**_**. By order of the captain, all crew and passengers are hereby instructed to disembark temporarily while the ship undergoes routine upgrades. We estimate that this process will take only a few hours, so if you are so inclined you might choose to visit the markets or nightclubs. The captain does however insist that all crew and passengers depart in small groups for safety, given Omega's reputation. Please have a nice day."**

"Nice touch, Luna," Joker remarked as he finished dropping the ship's powerful engines completely offline.

**"I aim to please."**

"Captain, if it's alright, I'm gonna stick fairly close by, god alone knows what I'll break on this station," Joker said over the radio.

Hermione looked at Harry, "We didn't think of that. Let's-" but she was interrupted by Phoenix.

_"Actually, that's something I wanted to say, XO Granger, Captain Potter," _his voice issued over the connection from the bridge, _"The thing you asked me to build for Joker is finished."_

"Oh good," said Hermione happily, "We'll be right up to see it in action. Luna, please ask Dr. Stark to stay for a little longer."

_"What's this you're talking about?" _Joker's voice said.

"We asked Phoenix to build you a special jumpsuit designed to protect your bones from breaking."

_"...Really?"_

"Yes. We'll be right up to explain in more detail."

The pilot found himself eagerly anticipating this.

-LatS-

Half an hour later, Joker was happily heading off to Afterlife with Ken and Gabby for drinks, while Phoenix had chosen to go off around Omega with Chimera to get some gear in the markets.

As soon as Stark had declared the pilot fit to leave, offered to call some of his ex-colleagues on the Citadel to try and patent the bodysuit design, and left with Temassinder to do just that, Hermione raised the time fields and tweaked the central control array. The entire upgrades; adding the Reaper armour to the external hull, integrating the Reaper IFF and replacing the original eezo core with the enhanced Reaper core unit, would collectively take several weeks. Since they had at most four hours, they had adjusted the time dilation effect inside the field to account for this and set to work.

-LatS-

**Four hours later.**

"Hermione?"

"Say it and you're sleeping on the couch."

"Why am I getting a strong sense of déjà vu?"

Hermione sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between forefinger and thumb, "Fantastic..."

Harry gave a mock gasp, "So the mighty brainiac Hermione Jean Granger failed to see this coming? She didn't realise what would happen when we hooked up the mass effect core of a dead super-dreadnought to our own shi- OW!"

Hermione had whacked him on the head, her face red. It was true; she HAD failed to realize what was going to happen. It seemed that after they had finished wiring up the mass effect core, it had integrated with the ship's shield-emitting hardware, leaving the _Argenti Cygnus_ with a layered kinetic barrier _under_ its main energy shields.

_**"The kinetic barrier is giving readings of 98% effiency, Hermione,"**_Luna said, _**"And the energy shields are also reading at a similar level of efficiency. I will attempt to improve on this."**_

"Can I say it now?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"NO!"

_**"Hey Hermione? You can't spank me so... Did we really just double up on our ship's shields without meaning to?"**_

"I hate you both," Hermione growled at the snickering A.I. and Harry.

_**"No, you don't. Mainly because you'd never survive without Harry to give you nookie."**_

It was amusing, Harry reflected, listening to Hermione curse inventively, "She's got you there, Hermione."

Hermione's response was cut off as the control array began flashing beside them, "Time's up,"

"Time to go round up our mad house," Harry remarked.

Luna began circulating their recall message, then she laughed.

"What?" said Hermione.

_**"It appears that Preitor Gavorn is on his way. Omega comm channels indicate that Saren Arterius inadvertently started a vorcha uprising by insulting the leader of a large gang of them, which Gavorn promptly ended with a missile launcher before giving Saren a lecture on how a Spectre, and above all, a **_**turian**_** Spectre should know to pick his fights."**_

Harry took one look at the report, forwarded to his omnitool by Liselle, and fell over laughing, "Oh you can't script that at all!" he finally managed.

Hermione tutted, "I see. Saren is on strike one then."

-LatS-

One extreme verbal arse-kicking from the commander of Omega's vorcha patrol later, Saren was seated back in his room aboard the _Argenti Cygnus_, grinding his teeth as, beyond it, he could hear laughter and joking from the mess.

Activating his omnitool, he began running some scans. What he found made his mandibles twitch. _"This ship is different. The outside armour has changed, I saw that on my way in with that imbecile Gavorn, and according to this the shields have adjusted too, they're even stronger; they even seem to have doubled in power. That settles it. I have to deal with these people now, before they become a threat."_

It was unfortunate, that Saren's subsequent actions would quickly cement his status as a threat.

He really had no idea who he was dealing with; he might have, had he actually taken the time and effort to truly observe.

It was a shame for Saren, that he had done no such thing.

Up in the bridge, Harry was giving orders, "Take us out Joker. And track the Migrant Fleet's last known location. Time to win us some friends."

-LatS-

Zeel'Lettah vas Tonbay was sitting at his long-range scanning station, monitoring the local mass relay and bored out of his mind.

He was just considering asking if he could go and get a drink when his console suddenly lit up with alerts. A cruiser-sized signature was exiting the mass relay, and as he watched, four more signatures followed it. To his horror, he realized that every one of the four signatures was bigger than a dreadnought.

"Admiral!"

Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay hurried over, "What is it, Zeel?"

"Admiral, we have five signatures inbound. Four are bigger than the _Rayya _and the other liveships!"

Raan turned, "Go to full alert! Warn Admiral Gerrel-" but at that moment, another comms technician stood up, "Admiral, we're being hailed!"

"Patch the communication through," Raan instructed, "And inform Admiral Gerrel!"

_"Admiral Raan," _said a familiar voice, _"A pleasure to make your acquaintance again. We've got a large offer for the Fleet, if you're interested in hearing us out."_

From the other end of the connection, Raan suddenly heard a woman's voice say, _**"Captain, I'm picking up incoming missiles from the ships of the Heavy Fleet. Calculating point defence trajectories."**_

_"I see. Thank you Luna. Admiral Raan, kindly call off your warhound. I am not, as he apparently thinks, a pirate."_

Raan swore in Khelish before marching over to a comms console and slamming her hand onto a button, "Admiral Gerrel, stop firing!"

Overeagerness on the part of a lone quarian aside... this did finally give them a chance to see if the point defenses were even worth installing, given the recent armor refit.

It took perhaps five minutes of firing for the Heavy Fleet gunners to realize their steady barrage of cannon fire wasn't doing _anything_. Whatever was getting past the point defence network was simply guttering out on the shields.

_"Would you like us to come back tomorrow?"_ Harry asked drily.

"No!" said Raan, before turning back to the console, "Gerrel, you bosh'tet, if you do not stop firing in the next twenty seconds I am going to come over to the _Neema_ and rip-" her translator mercifully chose not to interpret the ensuing tirade of Khelish obscenities, which ranged from threats to the Heavy Fleet admiral's manhood to insinuations about the possible parentage of both him _and_ his mother.

It had never been more difficult for the collective bridge crew of the _Tonbay_ to remain perfectly stoic in their lives.

To the bridge crew of the _Argenti Cygnus, _it was fairly obvious the gist of what was being said even without a translation, and no one was tactless enough to point out that they could hear every word.

Finally the Heavy Fleet stopped firing, and Raan turned her attention back to the connection with the _Argenti Cygnus_, "Thank you for waiting, Captain."

_"Not a problem... at least we got to see if our point defenses were worth the credits," _Harry remarked, still surprised at the volume of fire said defenses had swatted aside.

"Yes... I am sorry for my overeager fool of a fellow Admiral."

_"It's no problem, I'm surprised they worked actually; that's probably the only system no one was all that eager to test."_

"I can imagine why. But back to business," said Raan, "You mentioned an offer?"

_"I'd rather discuss this in person rather than via comms, something like this deserves face to face discussion. I promise it'll be worth it."_

"Very well, I will have someone transmit docking instructions for my ship," Raan replied.

_"Alright. Joker, hold position. We'll get a _Cygnet_."_

"Have fun Captain," Joker said as they departed.

-LatS-

"So," said Admiral Xen as she and the other admirals assembled in a meeting room and Harry and Hermione were escorted in by a couple of marines, "What's this offer Raan tells us about?"

Harry smiled, "Well... in the time that Captain Ceya'Lana and her crew were on my ship, my chief engineer noticed that the ship was running smoother than ever. Given that my ship is the size it is, we'd like it if we could get some volunteers on my ship again to supplement the existing crew."

Rael'Zorah leaned forwards, "And what is in this for the Migrant Fleet?"

Harry grinned, "I'm glad you asked that. You see those ships out there? The four I didn't have with me last time I came?"

"Yes...?"

"They're for you."

Harry and Hermione were treated to the sight of five quarians absolutely dumbstruck.

"Wh-what?" said Koris slowly.

"Each ship," said Hermione, "is outfitted for maximum production and accommodation. Two whole decks are relegated to farming, with inbuilt tech to lock down and isolate sections if something goes wrong, thereby preventing anything short of a catastrophic hull breach from affecting the entire crop within. The rest of the ship is split up into twenty-five thousand residential units, each capable of housing five quarian families, one family being two parents and a child."

There was a long pause, while Xen made a few calculations in her head, "But if there are twenty-five thousand residential units on each ship and each can hold fifteen quarians, that means that each ship can hold..."

"Three hundred and seventy-five thousand quarians, yes. Overall, the four ships are capable of housing one and a half million quarians and providing food for far more."

Raan seemed barely able to speak louder than a whisper. "This is... a priceless gift, Captain Potter."

Harry smiled, "I take it this offer is more than satisfactory, then?"

"What do you want in return? There's always... what is that human phrase? A catch?" Xen asked.

"Your friendship is all we want," was the simple and forthright response.

"And a group of quarian engineers, correct?"

"Yes, if you are willing."

"Very well," said Rael'Zorah, "We will issue a general message, informing our people of this deal. We will also ask that anyone interested in working for you apply to their captains."

Among the ones applying for a position was a quarian Harry and Hermione had gotten to know rather well, and knew to be capable, and curiously one of the applicants had been withdrawn, with the reasoning of parental refusal to consent noted as the reason.

It should be noted that they had a _lot_ of applications within minutes of the announcement going out.

Ceya'Lana had been right when she'd remarked that Harry would have to beat them off with a stick.

The quarian captain in question had already approached them, citing that she had enjoyed her time on the _Argenti Cygnus_ and given her lack of a ship of her own anymore, she was more than willing to offer her services as a stand-in when Harry and Hermione were off doing their thing.

Harry and Hermione, after giving the Admirals a guided tour of the new ships, had returned to the _Cygnus_ with a long list of all the new applicants and their skill sets. A few of the _Kyten_'s crew were there, as were Tali and Ceya.

"They're familiar with the workings of the ship," Hermione said, "It'd be good to rehire them."

"I agree," Harry said, setting a couple of files aside.

"Captain?"

Harry and Hermione looked up to see Ceya approaching, escorting another quarian in a red exosuit, "Yes?"

Ceya turned to the quarian, "Someone here to see you."

The second quarian saluted, "Kal'Reegar, Migrant Fleet marines, sir."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Reegar," said Harry, "Can we help you?"

"Yes, sir. I'm not a scientist or anything, but if you decide to supplement your ship's security crew, I would like to apply."

Harry looked at Hermione, who nodded, "It sounds like a reasonable idea. One question, Mr Reegar, are you content taking orders from an asari?"

"I'm just a soldier, ma'am. You point, I shoot."

"Good. Consider yourself hired. Luna, please ask Chimera and Phoenix to reset the sterile field generators on the rooms we set up for Ceya's crew beforehand."

**"Already done, Hermione."**

"Thank you, Luna."

"Ceya, would you mind giving Mr. Reegar the tour?"

Ceya nodded and escorted the marine out, as the two humans returned to their work.

-LatS-

"Mother, I want to go!" Lina'Xen protested.

Daro'Xen, standing across from her angry daughter, shook her head, "Absolutely not!"

"Admiral Zorah didn't protest to his daughter signing up!"

"Yes well that's Admiral Zorah for you," sniffed Xen, "I happen to have more sense concerning my daughter-"

"She hasn't even started her Pilgrimage yet, and I've finished it! Why can't I go?"

"Because I don't wish you to, Lina. This conversation is over."

As Daro'Xen walked away, Lina'Xen seethed, "Fine, she won't let me go? Then I'll go anyway. But it'll require careful timing..."

-LatS-

Harry and Hermione returned to the _Tonbay _some hours later, carrying their final list of accepted applicants. As soon as the Admiralty had looked it over, missives were sent out through the Fleet to the relevant ships, whereupon shuttles began traversing to the _Tonbay_. Phoenix had brought over two extra _Cygnets _to help with the ferrying of crew to the _Argenti Cygnus_, whereupon Hermione departed to the second _Cygnet_ while Harry gave the new quarian crewmen, numbering fourteen Marines and fourteen technicians of equal genders, a quick talk on what was expected of them on the _Argenti Cygnus_ before they all split up to board the _Cygnets_.

At the back of the technician line, Lina'Xen smiled happily inside her helmet. She was very keen to see the wonders of this ship for herself. If only she had been able to inform her mother of her intent, but she knew she needed to spread her wings without her mother there to watch her.

Unbeknownst to the eager quarian girl, her mother had her eyes fixed on her back as she climbed into the _Cygnet_ and took a seat. _"You really thought you could fool me into thinking you'd given up Lina? You underestimate my intellect. Oh no, I just wanted to see how determined you were. Keelah se'lai, my daughter. "_

Smirking to herself, she turned and headed back to the shuttle which would return her to the _Moreh_.

-LatS-

Two hours later, Joker had completed their first relay jump on the way to the Hourglass Nebula, and Harry had just finished giving the new crewmembers their tour of the ship, leaving the technicians under Chimera's direction and bidding Samara tell the new marines about their new postings around the vessel, as well as explaining to both parties (at Ceya's request) what Luna was and where she came from- that had been a _very_ fun conversation -when Kirrahe had hurried up to him before he got into the elevator.

"Captain, there is a problem."

"Yes?"

"It concerns the Spectre, Arterius."

Harry turned around, "Yes?"

"It might be nothing... but I saw him going down to the engineering department just after you left."

Harry nodded, "Thank you, Kirrahe. I'll go right down." He stepped into the elevator and shut the door, "Luna, where is Spectre Arterius?"

**"He is... entering the MAC Array, Harry."**

"Damn it!" Harry said, pulling up Chimera's omnitool in his directory, "Chimera! Stop Saren!"

_"Stop him, why?"_

"He's going to sabotage the damn MAC! I'm on my way down!"

_"No good, sir! He's already in and I... I think he's jammed the hatch! We're trying to hack it but we're not having much luck!"_

Harry swore and slammed on the button for the fifth deck, "Get me a Faraday suit ready, I'm going in myself! Now come on, you stupid lift! Come on, come _on_!"

-LatS-

Chimera, Ken and Gabby were all standing around the ladder into the MAC Array when Harry arrived, muttering angrily, "What's he doing, Luna?"

**"He is attempting to overload the MAC capacitors, but I am blocking him."**

"Good, keep it up. Give me that Faraday suit!"

Ken and Gabby picked it up and Harry began getting in.

As soon as he was done, he began the steady climb up the ladder.

-LatS-

"SAREN!"

Saren looked up as that blasted human emerged through the hatch in a flash of biotic energy and moved closer.

"Don't try to stop me, Potter! Your ship is a threat! If your Spirits-cursed A.I. would get lost..."

Harry glared at him, not moving far from the hatch, and Saren sneered at him, "Scared to attack me, Potter?"

"Oh no," said Harry, "Just amazed that you're stupid enough to try and pull this shit off."

Saren scowled, "And what's that meant to mean?"

"It means I think you're an idiot. There isn't any way you can get away with this, and I'm frankly stunned you _believe_ I'll _let_ you get away with this!"

Saren drew a pistol off the waist of his Faraday suit, "I'm armed, Potter! Come near me, and I'm going to shoot you!"

Harry actually laughed at him, "You think that scares me? Go on, Saren. Shoot me! Come on! Or are you chicken, bird face?"

Saren glared at him, then grinned, "The Council will back me up, you idiot. I'm a Spectre! I can get away with anything!"

"Yeah..." Harry said, "...If you can get away with it from _me_, and that isn't happening."

"Maybe, maybe not," Saren said, and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

He pulled it again, and Harry laughed at him, "I'm sorry, is your pistol not firing? Newsflash, idiot; the electromagnetic field in this deck negates any unshielded tech! The only way that pistol could hurt me at this moment is if you threw it at me!"

Saren swore and did just that, "Get out of it, Potter! I'm doing the galaxy a favour!"

"Are you?" said Harry, "Well, I think you deserve a little reward for your good deed. Luna, please give Agent Saren a one-gun salute for his achievement."

**"Acknowledged. Ten seconds to MAC fire."**

Saren looked over at Harry, who grinned as he stepped back onto the ladder, "Sorry Saren, but I don't need to come anywhere near you to beat you now. This entire ship is at my command, and you just ran afoul of it. Shame I can't give you back to the Council intact... because you're about to become turian jerky!" He dropped out of sight and slammed the hatch shut.

Saren swore, sprinting straight towards the hatch, "DAMN YOU, POTTER!"

**"Three... two... one... MAC firing."**

Luna's voice rang inside Saren's Faraday suit, and then the world went white.

-LatS-

A minute later, the hatch reopened. Harry climbed into the MAC array with Chimera, and together they dragged Saren through the hole and dropped him unceremoniously to the floor as Hermione entered, flanked by two asari commandos Harry vaguely noted seemed to be twins.

"Get this scum out of the Faraday suit and toss him in the brig!" Harry snapped at the two commandos, who nodded and began helping Chimera, Ken and Gabby undo the smoking Faraday suit.

"Are you alright, Harry?" said Hermione.

"Yeah," said Harry, "Idiot didn't realize there's a very good reason we wear these, and why we don't stick around in the MAC when it fires."

He strode past Hermione and out of the engineering department, "Joker, change course for the Citadel. I don't want this bastard on my ship any longer."

_"Roger that, Captain."_

"What are you going to do?" Hermione said.

"First? Thank Kirrahe. If not for him, I probably wouldn't have known what Saren was about to do."

"It was no trouble, Captain," said the salarian's voice as Harry stepped out of the engineering department, "I am here to assist. I do however have a proposal."

"A proposal?" said Harry, "What kind of proposal?"

"Your ship scientist... While he may be good at his job, he is still a hanar and thus not quite able to do tasks a bipedal individual can."

"What are you asking?"

"Not asking... simply offering. I happen to know a suitable scientist who could be an excellent addition to your crew, an old STG comrade named Mordin Solus."

"I'll think about it."

"What moron climbs into a charged MAC array?" one of the commando twins asked as Harry walked off.

"A desperate one?" replied the other, as she hoisted Saren's limp arm over her shoulders and gestured to her sister to take the other.

Harry literally flopped unceremoniously, face first onto the bed on entering his quarters, heedless of anyone else in the room. That had been... different? Bizarre? Stressful? Harry simply gave a mental shrug and thought, _"To hell with it,"_ as he proceeded to fall asleep where he'd fallen.

"...is he ok?" Kasumi asked Valkyrie. They'd been laying there in bed, when Harry had entered, not even registering their presence.

Valkyrie did not respond, too preoccupied with the fact that Harry was now using her lap as a pillow.

"Shhh," Harry mumbled, "Pillow no talk."

"Isn't he adorable?" Kasumi couldn't help but ask.

One arm rose and made a vague rude hand gesture in Kasumi's general direction before dropping back into the thief's lap.

Hermione grinned from the doorway, "Enjoying yourselves?"

"Yes," the two ladies replied as one, twin smiles on their faces.

"Good," Hermione climbed onto the bed and settled herself down, her head resting in Kasumi's lap, "Oh my you're comfortable. Don't move."

The thief and Ardat-Yakshi glanced at each other before chuckling and shifting their own positions so they could lie down comfortably, before following their captai

n and XO into sleep.

-LatS-

They arrived at the Citadel some hours later, and Joker called ahead to ask the Council for a meeting on Harry's behalf, while Joanne verified that her agent would greet them on the Wards after the Council meeting.

And so it was that Tevos, Sparatus and Valern were already waiting in the Council Chambers when Harry Potter and Hermione Granger emerged from the elevator shoving Saren Arterius before them and looking angry.

"Can we help, Captain Potter?" said Tevos politely.

"Yes, you can. I hope you realize I put a significant amount of faith in you when I allowed you to place a Spectre on my ship as a liaison. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I catch that Spectre attempting to sabotage my ship's primary weapons system, an act which could well have gotten everybody on board killed!"

Tevos glanced at her fellow Councillors, who all came to the same conclusion; Saren was acting on his own, so throw him to the wolves.

"This Council gave no such instruction to Agent Saren, though his reports have been... worrisome... lately."

"How worrisome?" Hermione asked.

Sparatus leaned forwards, "Like the artificial intelligence you conveniently neglected to mention. Like the casual alliance you created with the batarians. Like the active allegiance with the chief crime lord in the Terminus Systems! Like the fact that you built four ships larger than dreadnoughts for a race banished from Council space for their crimes!"

"Crimes three hundred years old!" Harry snapped, "The quarians lost their homeworld, they came to you for help, and you threw them off the Citadel as criminals, punishing them far beyond the actual magnitude of their perceived crime! You can be damn sure we'd have helped them when presented with that injustice!"

"And what of the alliances with the Terminus and batarians? Or your A.I. you still haven't mentioned?"

Harry scoffed, "Our alliance with Aria T'Loak is only money-based. We give her some funds from time to time and in return we get to use Omega's facilities. We're not about to launch a pirate raid on a merchant fleet or anything. As for the batarians, we stopped rebels crashing a dreadnought onto Khar'shan and saved them from something far worse which could have meant the destruction of their race! You know as well as I do, _Councillors_, that had it been your people, you would have pursued an alliance just the same!"

Valern folded his arms, "Be that as it may, you have still created an artificial intelligence, which is a violation of Council law!"

"Actually... _we_ didn't make her. Luna created herself. Let me tell you a little story, Councillors. One hundred and seventy-odd years ago, Hermione and I were researchers. Something unexpected occurred and we ended up here. Luna is one of our friends from that time who suspected she might see us again, so she created a machine which would preserve a fragment of her mind so she could do just that. Luna, care to explain the rest?"

He raised his omnitool, as Luna's image projected from it to become a full-sized humanoid form, **"Thank you Harry. Unfortunately for me, Councillors, the machine was too powerful. It tore my mind and soul to pieces, converted them to data, and turned me into what I am now. I am not as the geth are, and I would die before betraying Harry or Hermione, or anybody they consider to be an ally... which I am afraid to say," **she turned a glare on Saren, eyes hard, **"does not include this piece of detritus at this moment."**

Tevos sighed, "Thank you... Luna. That will be all. My fellow Councillors, I knew of this particular secret already, and I was personally assured by Matriarch Benezia, one of the most respected and honoured individuals in asari culture, that she was not hostile."

Valern looked pensive, before nodding, "I know of the Matriarch. Her judgement is likely to be sound." Both he and Tevos looked at Sparatus, who looked as though he was struggling internally.

"You're sure that... _thing_... is not hostile?"

"Of course it's hostile!" ranted Saren, "It's an A.I.! Outlawed under Council jurisdiction! Why are you siding with these lawbreakers? Do you fear their wretched A.I.? Where is the stalwart Council I served? Are they gone to be replaced with snivelling-"

"Silence, Arterius!" commanded Tevos, her normally soft-spoken tone vanishing as every inch of the asari commando reared its head, and she glared down at the shamed turian in benediction, "You have already done enough to compromise your place in the Spectres today! Do not mire yourself in worse trouble by insulting those above you!"

Saren fell silent.

Tevos forced herself to calm before turning to Harry and Hermione, "What might be done to remedy this situation, Captain Potter?"

Harry folded his arms, "I _am_ willing to accept another Spectre, but this time _I _will decide if they are worthy in person!"

Truthfully, he was hoping they might put an asari on. It would give him the perfect in with the Council if it was needed.

"I believe that can be done," said Tevos calmly, "Shall we discuss? Spectre Arterius, you are hereby temporarily relieved of duty until this mess is dealt with."

The Councillors moved together to discuss as Saren gave Harry a deadly look and stormed out.

Harry turned back to Hermione and they spoke quietly for a few minutes before the Councillors returned.

"I will summon one of our older and more experienced Spectres to discuss with you," said Tevos, "Her name is Tela Vasir. You will be able to decide for yourself, and please contact me with your decision. This meeting of the Council is adjourned."

Harry nodded, beckoned to Hermione, and they left.

-LatS-

They had just stepped off the elevator when Harry's omnitool chimed.

He checked it, "The Spectre wishes to meet us at Apollo's Cafe on the Presidium in two hours so that we might speak in person."

"That works," Hermione replied, "Plenty of time to meet Joanne's agent... if she is who we think."

Harry nodded, "It will be. I have a gut feeling."

They took a skycar down to the Wards, following the directions Joanne had sent Hermione during the Council meeting, and eventually came to the Dark Star lounge on Zakera Ward, and entered.

Joanne, dressed in practical yet smart clothing, was talking to a woman by the bar when Harry and Hermione entered. She waved them over and spoke to her friend, "These two are the pair I was talking about."

The woman turned to face Harry and Hermione, and it was as though each was looking back eighteen decades into the past.

Harry was the first to recover, as he looked the woman directly in her eyes and said, "Tonks? Nymphadora... Tonks?"

**(A/N: I know! I'm so eeeeeevil for ending it there, but I couldn't resist and the chapter was getting quite long enough already! Now, announcements. Once again, a big shoutout to my on-and-off cowriter XRaiderV1, without whom the lemons probably would not be as good as they are, as well as everybody on the FB Fiction Group for their occasional great input! And now I must adjourn. Damned History coursework taking up all my reading, writing and sleeping time -.- Anyway, tune in next time for the dramatic showdown with the other big kahuna of the galaxy... Leave a review, tell me what you think, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leonineus, OUT!)**


	9. C8: Bugs, Brokers and Biotics

Lightning among the Stars

Chapter Eight: Bugs, Brokers and Biotics

**(A/N: *dodges a flying pitchfork* Alright, alright! I'm back with a new chapter, and yes I know I was evil to you all with that cliffhanger, but if I'd decided to keep writing that chapter would have likely been an extra two weeks in the writing, so take your complaints about my apparent sadism and shove 'em! Actually, on that note... I was very much touched by the reviews last chapter. When I set out to write this fic, I was not expecting to receive the level of praise I have been getting these last few chapters. It means ever so much to me. I know a lot of writers say this, but I work very hard on these chapters and it makes me really happy to see that my hard work is rewarded. Anyway, enough with the sappy stuff and ON WITH THE CHAPTER!)**

**(A/N: Right, update. This took me ages for three reasons. One, I had a very bad bout with writer's block. Two, I got into The Old Republic, which sapped a great deal of my time while I was trying to coax the muse back. It's probably a long shot but if any of you are on the European server "The Red Eclipse" you might run into me somewhere. And three, I received several rather upsetting reviews jabbing holes in my story, either in the name of "constructive criticism" or just for the sake of jabbing holes. My response to those people is simple; eat shit and die. I write this entirely for fun; if you want to drive me to quitting posting my stuff online because you find that funny, I'm more than happy to do so.)**

**(Lemon writer's A/N: So his muse finally came out of hiding only for mine to flip me off and proceed to spend most of these two days being… difficult. That said, I apologize if this lemon is not up to standards, and declare Leonineus free of all blame. Direct the rotten fruits and veggies at me, XRaiderV1.)**

Starring:

Natalie Tena as Nymphadora Tonks

Saffron Burrows as Aleena

Helena Bonham Carter as Matriarch Aethyta

Anna Paquin as Seyla

Rana McAnear as Mirala/Morinth

Erica Cox as Emily Wong

Candice Neil as Jacqueline "Jack" Nought

The effect was immediate. Tonks blinked at Harry for a second, then she doubled over and her hands flew to her temples as she gave a cry of pain.

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other for a second as Tonks' hair began cycling madly through colours, then she slumped against the bar and drew a long, gasping breath.

"Tonks, are you-" Hermione started to say, but then Tonks' hand shot out and grabbed Harry by the collar.

He was dragged nose-to-nose with the Metamorphmagus, her hair turning so red it almost cast light on the walls, and she yelled in his face, "DON'T CALL ME NYMPHADORA!"

Then she released his collar, sat back in her chair and made a huffing sound.

"Definitely Tonks," Harry mumbled, massaging his wrenched neck.

"Tonks, how did you get here?" Hermione asked, fighting down a grin.

Tonks frowned, "I... don't know. One second I was fighting with Remus, then I saw that cunt Alecto Carrow waving her wand at us... then nothing. My head kinda hurts; did you really have to restore my memory like that?"

"We had a hunch. Joanne here told us about your Metamorphmagus abilities and we asked to meet you. We wanted to know if it was really you."

"Well, you found me. Surprised to see you working for an organization aimed at humanity's dominance over all other races, Hermione, after all your work with Spew."

Harry fought down a snicker as Hermione scowled, "It's not Spew, it's S.P.E.W.!"

Tonks grinned, "Still as feisty as ever, I see. Nice to see you two got together, though I wish you'd done it sooner or I might have won the pool. How'd you get here?"

"Later," said Harry calmly, "Right now I have to go and meet somebody and Joanne had better head back to the ship. Hermione can lead you. We'll talk later."

Tonks frowned, "You two look older. How long was I out of commission?"

"About eighteen decades, Tonks. It's a very long story, but we'll explain back on the ship."

Tonks' frown deepened, but she nodded and stood up, following Hermione out of the bar with Joanne, as Harry set off in the other direction, heading up to the Presidium.

-LatS-

He almost smiled when he arrived at Apollo's Cafe half an hour later, to see an armoured asari sitting at a table on the balcony overlooking the reservoir, drinking a glass of some blue liquid. She noticed him and beckoned him over.

"Captain Potter?" she said as he sat down. When he nodded, she inclined her head, "Tela Vasir, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. I've already been briefed on what my current assignment is, and given considerable warning about what is likely to happen to me should I emulate my predecessor's actions."

Harry nodded curtly, not saying a word while he probed the asari's mental barriers. _"Hmm, difficult. She's well-trained," _he thought, having noticed significant obstructions between him and her mind, _"Just what I'd expect from an asari Spectre. Saren was just a fool."_

Finally he said, "Well, I am glad you seem to have more sense than the xenophobic turian. I guess I should explain the rules on my ship then."

"Please do."

-LatS-

"_**Hermione,"**_

"Luna?" Hermione said, "What is it?"

"_**I just received a message from an unknown party you might wish to hear. Hello, Nymphadora."**_

Tonks blinked, then scowled, "Luna? Looks like Harry and Hermione aren't the only ones here. And don't call me that please."

_**"Nymphie?"**_

"I think not."

"_**Nymmie?"**_

"No."

"_**Tonkie?"**_

"Hell no!"

"_**Nym?"**_

Tonks pouted, "Fine, I sense that's the best I'll get out of you."

Luna's beaming smile was evident in her tone, _**"Alright then. Nym it is."**_

"Anyway, what did you want to say, Luna?" Hermione cut in.

"_**This is the message. "You spared us before, and returned us to the place of our people. We will rebuild in peace, thanks to you, hidden away from the galaxy. But our gratitude does not cease there. We wish to bestow upon you a gift of manpower. Come to Suen. We will wait." I suspect that it is from the rachni queen we assisted, Suen being the rachni homeworld."**_

"Yes," Hermione mused, "I wonder what this gift of manpower she wants to give us is?"

Joanne broke in, "The rachni are naturally a hive mind, allowing them to move in a coordinated fashion towards a mutual goal. I suspect the queen is inclined to help you by giving you some drones to help with your ship."

"That will be interesting, though we will have to make sure that Wrex and Kanara have no problems with them, and the Spectre could be an issue as well. Luna, please inform Harry."

"_**I have. Unfortunately I was unaware he was with company, and he is currently explaining to the Spectre what I am. Also, I have a message from Dahlia. She says she persuaded her acquaintance Aleena to meet you in Flux casino."**_

"Then I'll head there first before heading back to the shuttle. Thank you Luna."

"_**It is no trouble, Hermione. I will see you when you return to the ship."**_

"Joanne, can you find your way back?"

"Yes, I can."

"Good. Take Tonks. I'm going to be talking shop with mercs." She set off in the other direction.

-LatS-

Finding Flux proved to be easy. Hermione took a public shuttle to another section of the Wards before heading to Flux through the markets.

However, she was waylaid just outside the entrance.

"Miss? Excuse me, miss! Could I have a moment of your time?"

Hermione turned to see a young woman approaching her hurriedly, "Yes?"

The woman smiled, "I'm Emily Wong, I'm an investigative journalist here on the Citadel. You and your advanced ship are the talk of the station at the moment, so many reporters are clamouring for interviews. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"I'm currently going to a meeting with a potential partner, but alright."

Emily beamed, "Thank you!" She tapped her omnitool a couple of times before nodding, "Now, first question..."

-LatS-

Hermione entered Flux half an hour later and looked around. The questioning had been quite simple, and had ended with Wong giving her her omnitool details in case they wished to schedule an actual interview later on.

As Hermione surveyed the room, she saw two asari seated at a table in a corner, one being Dahlia, and approached.

"XO Granger," said Dahlia as Hermione drew out the third seat and sat down, "This is my contact, Aleena."

Hermione sized up the other asari. She was a lighter shade of blue than most asari, but her eyes were a striking lapis lazuli hue, and her facial tattoos were quite decorative; a single chevron-shaped mark in the centre of her forehead and several horizontal dashes across her cheeks, serving to highlight her high cheekbones and jawline, which looked delicate but Hermione judged could likely take a blow or two without flinching. She also seemed pleasant enough, like most asari, but Hermione got the impression that she was more in her element dressed in commando leathers and holding a gun. If anything, she reminded Hermione of Aria with the way she held herself.

"Right," she said, clearing her throat, "Let's get to business. I asked Dahlia here to contact you, Aleena, because my captain and I require agents off our ship who can help elsewhere."

"Why me in particular? Surely the captain of this new ship the _Argenti Cygnus_ could find more... lawful... help?" Aleena's voice was musical, again like most asari, but there was a note of strength there that Hermione found it easy to respect.

"That may be so, but we won't discard an advantage if we can get it. Having Dahlia and you on our side is such an advantage."

"Very well. And what's in it for me?"

"A sizeable paycheck to do with as you wish. My captain and I can pay for good help."

"What kind of paycheck am I looking at?"

Hermione tapped her omnitool, and Aleena's chimed. "That kind."

Aleena's eyes widened, and she smiled, "I think we have an accord, if you can keep those payments coming."

"We can."

"Then what do you want me to do first?"

Hermione tapped her fingers on the table, "On our crew is an asari justicar. She is tracking an Ardat-Yakshi, her name is Morinth. I need you two to put your feelers out, see if you can find her."

"Hmm," Dahlia looked pensive, "First port of call would be areas with an irregular spike in the daily death count. Heavily-populated regions, and the like."

"We'll have a lot of work to do, but we'll get it done," promised Aleena.

"Good," said Hermione, "Now, I must be going. We've got to get ready for departure. Places to go, people to see, and all that."

"Yes, goodbye Ms. Granger," said Dahlia vaguely, "We'll keep you updated."

Hermione smiled and left.

-LatS-

Arriving back at the _Cygnet_'s docking bay, Hermione found Harry already sitting in the pilot's chair talking to Tonks. Vasir was sitting in the corner, Luna standing on the asari's omnitool as they chatted quietly together.

"Hey, Hermione," said Harry as she settled into the co-pilot's chair, "How did the meeting go?"

"Well. I got them tracking Morinth for Samara. They promised to keep me informed."

"Good, good."

"How was your meeting with the Spectre?"

Harry glanced back to where Luna and Vasir were talking before waving his hand and casting a _Muffliato_ around them both.

"She's well-trained, good mental barriers like I would expect. After Saren I'm still suspicious, however."

Hermione grinned predatorily, "Well, at least this one's easy on the eyes. And if she steps out of line we can always dispense _punishment_."

Harry chuckled as he closed the passenger hatch and began running takeoff procedure, "Ah, my kinky second-in-command. What would I do without you?" He dropped the _Muffliato_ before she could respond.

"Time to go," he said to the cabin at large.

-LatS-

Settling Tonks and Vasir in took only a short time, and soon Harry was leaving the Spectre liaison's office.

"Luna, please monitor her outgoing communications. If she does something suspicious, I want to know about it before she's stopped doing it."

"**Understood, Harry," **Luna replied.

Harry headed up to the bridge.

"Where to next, Captain?" Joker asked.

Harry settled himself into his command chair, "Rila, plot a course to the Ninmah Cluster again."

"Aw, rachni space again?" said Joker incredulously.

"Well apparently the Queen wants to speak to us. Make of that what you will."

"Fine," the human pilot grumbled, and settled back in his chair.

"Why _are_ we going back to rachni space?" Rila asked as she began plotting their course.

"As I said, the Queen wants to speak to us. I don't know what about save that she wishes to repay us for freeing her. A "gift of manpower", from what I recall of her message."

"A gift of manpower?" wondered Falere, "Well according to history, the rachni were very technically minded. Maybe she wishes to supplement the engineering crew."

"If that's the case, I'll have to warn Brak and his band of merry grease monkeys ahead of time," said Harry in an amused tone.

His omnitool bleeped in that moment and he checked it. "A message from Admiral Xen?"

He opened it.

_Potter,_

_I know my daughter Lina snuck aboard your ship. Tell her I'm proud of her for taking the initiative as I tried to teach her and take good care of her. If you can give her the attached message, it would be appreciated._

_Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh_

"Hmm," Harry said, before getting up from his chair, "I'm heading down to Engineering. Call me if anything comes up."

"Aye, captain."

Harry headed back out of the bridge towards the elevator, and quickly took it three levels down to the engineering deck.

"Hey Brak," he said, "How are the engines running?"

The batarian looked up from his console, "Same as usual. Like a dream, in fact. That new core you locked in is insanely strong."

"Yeah... the ship's got double-layered kinetic barriers and standard shields now, after we added that."

"So I can tell. Then there's that new IFF. It's like nothing I've ever seen before."

"It's supposed to interface with the relays at an entirely new level, allowing for far more precise relay jumps."

"Yes... I'll have to ask Joker to preserve a few records of our latest drift readouts for me to examine. This IFF is fascinating. But I take it you didn't come down here to talk tech, Captain?"

"No, I'm looking for one of the quarian techs."

Brak gave a bark of laughter and gestured towards the cores, "Take your pick! They've been swarming around the cores all day!"

"One in particular. What have you to say about Lina'Xen vas Taren nar Moreh?"

"Her? Oh, she's a good egg, as you humans say. Very smart, very quick and easy to work with. Sharp, too. You have an eye for talent, if those quarians and the couple-in-denial over there are any indication." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to where Daniels and Donnelly had their heads together, poring over a series of datapads and readouts.

Harry chuckled, "Back to work, Brak."

"Aye, captain."

Stepping over to where the quarians were darting back and forth like honey bees, running scans, working in access panels or tapping at computers, he cleared his throat, "Which one of you is Lina'Xen?"

There was a pause, and then one of the quarians shakily raised her hand from where she stood beside the matter-antimatter fusion core.

"Come with me," said Harry, moving further along the walkway towards the plasma core fuelling the shields, situated at the aft end of the deck.

As they walked, he examined the young quarian woman's body language. She was twisting her hands together and her shoulders were hunched. Evidently she was nervous.

"I received a message from your mother..."

The quarian's restraint snapped, "Please don't throw me off the ship, I really want to serve here, my mother didn't want me to go off on this because she thought it was just a flight of fancy that I'd get bored of, but I really want to stay so don't send me back to the Migrant Fle-" she cut off as Harry held up his hand.

"First of all, you're a part of my crew now and Brak's only had good things to say about you. I'm not giving you back to the Fleet unless they ask."

"But... you said you got a message from my mother..."

"And I did. I did not, however, say that she wished you to return. Instead she told me to say that she's proud of you and that I should take good care of you while you are on my ship."

"She's... not angry that I disobeyed her and ran away?"

"Apparently not. She attached a message for me to give to you." He forwarded the attachment to Lina's omnitool and looked down at her, "If you want to contact her directly, just ask and I'll have Falere set up a comm link."

The young quarian stared at her omnitool for a second, then stood to attention and saluted, "Aye, captain."

Harry chuckled, "That's the third "Aye, captain" I've heard today. As you were, Lina'Xen." He stepped around the quarian and walked off, stopping briefly to reassure a concerned Ceya'Lana that Lina was not in any kind of trouble before stepping into the elevator.

Phoenix was working in the armoury when Harry exited the elevator, "Phoenix, how's Myxtin's project coming?"

The quarian looked up, "I've finished it. I just need to ask her to try it on and then we can start talking implants."

"Inquiring: Did somebody say my name?"

Harry turned to see the female elcor lumbering towards them.

"Yes," said Phoenix, "The captain asked me to design something for you to be able to carry out your tasks."

"Curious: What is it?"

Harry broke in, "Hermione and I had the idea of a kind of waistcoat for you, mounted with metal arms to facilitate your inventory job and controlled by a neural implant. Phoenix was making a prototype."

"Greatly intrigued: This sounds very interesting. Enthusiastic: Where is it?"

"Right this way." Phoenix led Harry and Myxtin over to another table, on which rested something which resembled a saddle connected to some kind of visor, "Captain, could you help me lift this onto her?"

Myxtin stayed still as the human and quarian were able to slide the waistcoat over Myxtin's back and fasten the clips that held it in place under her stomach.

"How do you feel?" Phoenix said, stepping back a little.

Myxtin lifted one leg ponderously and tilted her head slightly. "Tentatively: It is comfortable, but a little tight under my right foreleg. Conciliatory: It is still very good however, and I am pleased. Eagerly: How does it work?"

Phoenix tapped his omnitool, and several flexible metal arms unfolded away from the vest, shifting and dancing through the air like the legs of a spider.

"The visor fits over your face like so," said Phoenix, holding it up to Myxtin's face, "But it needs to connect to the neural implant so it won't fit properly for the moment."

"Interested: I see. When can I acquire this neural implant?"

"As soon as I've cleared it with Dr. Stark and we find a way to tranquillise you without breaking a bed."

"Enlightened: Understood. Pleased: I will wait then. Thank you for your work."

-LatS-

When asked, Dr. Stark was actually intrigued by the idea of the implant, and immediately sent a message to Myxtin saying that she was more than welcome to come up to the medbay when she had time.

Harry meanwhile had headed back up to the bridge, only to be intercepted by Wrex along the way, "Potter!"

"Wrex?"

"Is it true we're heading into rachni space?"

Harry clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth for a few minutes before he said, "I figured this was coming. Come with me into the conference room so we can talk."

Growling, the krogan headed inside the conference room after him. This discussion had the possibility of ending in either peace or in bloodshed.

It appeared that Harry's luck held true; Wrex left the conference room a little while later looking thoughtful and retired back to his quarters. They had agreed that the krogan would come groundside on Suien with them, so that he could speak to the queen directly.

Harry watched him enter the elevator before heading towards the bridge.

-LatS-

"Captain, we're about two hours out from Suen." Joker said as Harry entered the bridge and sat down heavily beside Hermione.

"Problem?" Hermione queried.

"Just had to talk Wrex down from shooting me over the whole rachni situation. Long story short, he's coming with us onto Suen so he can speak to the queen himself."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"No, I'm not, but it was the only way I could resolve the situation _without_ him going on a shooting spree." He rubbed his eyes.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked, leaning sideways in her chair to look closely at him.

"Yeah, just tired."

Hermione prodded him "Go get yourself some rest. I'll come and wake you when we reach Suen."

Harry nodded, then leaned across and kissed her, "Later, Hermione." He stood and left.

Hermione thought for a second, then appeared to reach a conclusion and stood, "Joker, you have command. I need to go down and talk to someone."

"Understood," Joker said after a second.

Hermione got into the elevator and went down to the living quarters, before heading up the stairway to the veranda around the upper level. She waved to Liselle, who as usual was sitting in the lounge, then knocked at a door labelled K. GOTO.

"It's open!" the thief called from within.

Hermione entered. Kasumi was lounging on her bed, reading what looked like a romance novel, "Hey 'Mione. What's up?"

"I'm curious about something. You told us all about Keiji and his greybox and it all sounded quite like you were devoted to him. So why get so friendly with us?"

Kasumi closed the book and set it down, sitting up again, "Didn't we discuss this before?"

Hermione nodded, "But please remind me."

"I accessed Keiji's greybox, the day after we returned from the heist. I found a memory he had uploaded, probably the last one before he was caught and killed. He was telling me not to mourn him, to move on and find someone I felt was as worthy of me as I found him to be. That's you and Harry."

"And the multitude of other people we take to our bed both with you and without you?"

"Well, a girl has to have some fun from time to time, no?"

Hermione chuckled, "Yes, she does."

Kasumi suddenly got a hungry look in her eyes, "You know, this particular conversation is making me hungry."

Hermione smirked, "Me too."

She stepped forwards and licked her lips.

**smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile**

Unbeknownst to either woman, Luna had decided to take steps to facilitate the next addition to Harry's little repertoire of women he and Hermione had taken for their own; she had deactivated the soundproofing around Kasumi's room when she knew that Samara was nearby, so that the justicar's curiosity would be peaked and she would investigate.

Samara entered, question on her tongue, and stopped dead, watching the two women pleasuring each other loudly, before turning and quickly fleeing the room. Neither woman was even aware they'd had a visitor.

From her position in the _Argenti Cygnus_' systems, Luna giggled to herself. **"Victory is now all mine," **she sang quietly to herself,** "And soon the justicar's mood will be just fine,"**

Still giggling, she meandered off to find something else to do with her time.

-LatS-

The trip down onto Suen was undertaken in complete silence.

Wrex sat in the back seat, not saying anything.

He was _not_ a happy krogan, and only the fact he halfway trusted the captain and his female was stopping him from shooting them.

Wrex growled.

Harry and Hermione exchanged a look as Harry flew them in.

"_...Somehow, I doubt buying him a new shotgun is going to help soothe things over,"_ Harry thought to himself.

They landed without much issue and donned breathing masks, stepping off the shuttle. Suen was immersed in a thick blanket of fog where the trio stood on the termination shock, the habitable belt between the planet's two extremes. Harry could barely see a few feet in front of him. Then something shifted in the haze.

Harry's hand brushed his Locust, but then a rachni drone emerged from the mist and chirruped in their direction. Harry offered his hand, and after a brief touch on the drone's antenna he nodded, "It... she... wants us to follow her."

Wrex growled and shifted slightly, but followed as they walked after the drone into a tunnel.

After a long walk, they emerged into a large multi-levelled chamber. Around the ring-like ledges on the walls, thousands upon thousands of rachni sat, antenna waving softly in time to a barely-audible song which seemed to echo in the very bones of the two humans and one krogan there. At the heart, and where they were being led to, stood the Queen. She was watching carefully as they stopped just in front of her.

Harry took a few steps forwards and offered his hand to the Queen, who gripped it with one of her antenna.

"_Can we help you, queen?" _He asked, once he had accessed the queen's mindscape with a nonverbal _Legilimens_.

"_**The rachni sing again because of you. I seek to bestow a gift upon you for this second chance."**_

"_Your message said as much. What gift is this?"_

"_**My people are gifted engineers and builders. Working to escape the harsh conditions of our homeworld is what gave my people their first steps towards space travel. Your ship is unlike any I have seen before. I would like to place two of my young there to assist with the maintenance of the ship."**_

"_I don't see why not, as long as they generally keep out of the more populated areas of the ship. Peaceful or not, some of the crew may react badly to a rachni wandering the corridors."_

"_**I expected no less. I can tell that krogan with you wishes to kill. Why did you bring him?"**_

"_We hoped that we could show him the difference. He only knows the rachni as monsters, and if rachni are to join my crew I will not have discord between them, especially when I think that simply asking them to avoid each other would not work."_

"_**I can but try. Please ask him to approach."**_

Harry ended the _Legilimens_, "Wrex, step up."

Wrex growled, but stepped over to him. Taking the krogan's arm, Harry brought it up so that the Queen's antenna could grip his claws, then focused his magic on bridging the gap between their minds.

-LatS-

Harry, Hermione and Wrex returned to the _Argenti Cygnus_ a few hours later, the krogan immediately retiring to his quarters to think over what had been shown to him this day. Harry went straight upstairs to sleep, a little exhausted from bridging a krogan's and a rachni queen's mindscapes for well over four hours while they communed. Hermione was left in charge of delivering their new crewmember's to their new workplace.

She brought the new pair of rachni drones through the engineering bay to introduce them to the rest of their new co-workers where, after a brief period of hesitancy, Brak gave them instructions to examine and shore up a little of the shielding on the matter-antimatter fusion core, which had been showing some deterioration in the last few days but which the crew had not yet been able to correct. After informing the two rachni that they could stay down in the subdeck, Hermione herself had left as well.

It was as Hermione was exiting the lift on the crew deck and standing aside for two of the quarian marines going to their shift on the bridge that Luna appeared on the nearby holopad, **"Hermione, I have a message from Dahlia and Aleena."**

"What is it, Luna?"

"**They say they have tracked Morinth to Illium."**

"Really? Excellent. I'll inform Samara."

Luna nodded, **"She is in the lounge, talking with Matriarch Benezia and Liselle."**

Turning, Hermione headed towards the lounge.

-LatS-

"Samara, can we talk?"

The justicar turned to look at her, "Of course, XO Granger. What about?"

"We found her."

Samara blinked, then her eyes shifted slightly, "Morinth?"

"Yes. She's on Illium. We'll be heading there as soon as possible."

Benezia sat up a little, "May I come? I have been feeling a little restless lately."

Hermione nodded, "Another biotic would be welcome to help us apprehend her."

Benezia smiled, "Thank you."

Liselle said nothing, simply toasted Hermione with a glass of wine and smiled.

-LatS-

"Joker, set course for Illium."

No response.

"Joker?"

Hermione looked closer at the pilot. He seemed lost in thought, gazing out the window.

"Joker?" She touched his arm, and the pilot jumped.

"Huh? Oh, sorry XO. Just thinking."

"About?"

Joker took a breath, "Captain Anderson of the Alliance just sent me a message. They're building a new ship with the turians, a joint project. He wants me to be the pilot."

Hermione blinked, "Didn't you resign your commission?"

"I did, but he said I'd be given a full reinstatement since I was the best pilot in the academy."

"But you'll leave us."

"Yes. I don't like it, I love this ship, but I've been thinking. When I joined you, I just up and left. Now…"

"You're caught between your loyalty to us and to the Alliance."

"Flying you guys is great, but I would like to consider returning to the Alliance."

Hermione nodded, "Very well. Feel free to keep the suit." She smiled at him and held out a hand, "It's been an honour, Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau."

Joker smiled back, taking the hand and shaking it, "Likewise, Executive Officer Granger."

"Now, let's go to Illium. Let's see if we can't herald your return to the Alliance with a bang, eh?"

"As you say, ma'am."

-LatS-

"We're gonna need a new pilot," said Hermione as she exited a _Cygnet_ with Harry, Benezia, Samara and surprisingly Shepard, who had ambushed them on the way to the _Cygnet_ and asked to speak to them about something. Since they were in a hurry, Harry had simply directed her into the shuttle.

"What's up with Joker?"

"He wants to go back to the Alliance."

Behind them, Shepard suddenly paused, "That's… what I wanted to talk to you about. Captain Anderson called me and…"

"…He wants you on this new ship that the Alliance is building with the turian Hierarchy."

"…How'd you know that?"

"Because Joker got the same offer."

"Yeah…" Shepard flushed slightly, "I've enjoyed… serving on the _Argenti Cygnus_, but I'm Alliance first."

Harry nodded, "When do they want you back on Earth?"

"I need to be at Arcturus within a week."

"Understood. We can meet that deadline."

"Thanks," said Shepard, darting around and holding out a hand to Harry, "It's… been a privilege."

"Likewise, Commander."

-LatS-

Luna had remotely accessed Illium's network, and soon informed them of an altercation in Eternity, a bar just off the main trading floor, between two asari, one of which fitted a description much like Samara's.

"That'll be her," said Samara, and set off at a brisk walk in that direction.

They ended the bar not five minutes later to discover there was indeed an altercation taking place. Two asari wreathed in dark energy were grappling on the floor, and as one of them drew her head back and headbutted the other squarely in the mouth, Benezia stopped and blinked, "I recognise her…"

"You do?" said Hermione.

"Yes…" Benezia suddenly blushed uncharacteristically, "Liara's 'father', Matriarch Aethyta."

"Well she has a very… interesting fighting style," Harry commented, chuckling as he watched Aethyta grab the other asari in a headlock and drag her head back by her scalp crests.

Samara tensed as the second asari's eyes fell upon her and widened, before there was an explosion of biotic energy and Aethyta was flung off and into the wall.

"Mother!" another asari nearby shouted, running to the dazed matriarch, but nobody paid her any mind as Morinth drew herself up and imitated the third asari in the room.

"Mother."

"It's over, Mirala," said Samara, holding up a hand, "You cannot escape."

"Don't call me that! My name is not Mirala! It's Morinth!"

"Mirala, my daughter," said Samara.

"I AM NOT MIRALA!" Morinth screamed.

"She's acting oddly," said Hermione softly to Harry, "Very oddly."

Harry nodded, and tapped Samara's shoulder, "I'll handle it." Without waiting for a reply, he approached Morinth.

"Morinth?"

The Ardat-Yakshi's eyes snapped up to look at him, even as Hermione spoke quickly to Shepard and the two began herding the terrified patrons out of the door and Benezia moved swiftly to Aethyta, leaving Samara ready for anything if she was needed.

"Who are you?" said Morinth roughly, glaring at Harry, "You're with her aren't you? The bitch found herself some help! What'd she offer, huh? Peace and tranquillity? Or did she finally realise that body is good for more than just filling out that slutty outfit?"

Samara showed no sign of offence, she simply blinked.

"Neither," said Harry, "I'm here to help you."

Morinth scowled, pacing away from him a few steps, "You think I'm going to believe that?"

"Whether you do or you don't, it's the truth. Come on Morinth. I'm not going to hurt you."

For a second, something in Morinth's eyes flickered, then she shook her head, "I… No. I'd hurt you. I'd hurt you. Don't… don't look at me!"

Harry took a step forwards and Morinth took another one back.

"Stop!" said Morinth nervously.

"I want to help… Mirala."

There it was again, more noticeable than before. The flicker. But this time the Ardat-Yakshi's eyes hardened and a predatory smirk spread across her face. "You're too close," she hissed, and lashed out with a meld.

Just as Yanis had before her, Morinth delved straight into Harry's mind and was almost instantly impeded. But even though Yanis' attempted meld had simply been the product of her own impetuousness and Morinth's was a cold and conscious act, it made no difference as Morinth found herself up against an immovable obstruction which halted her meld cold.

Even as she mentally looked around, trying to find a way through the wall, something seized her from behind and spun her around, slamming her against the wall. Then she felt a chill, and realized the wall had shifted, melted around her hands and legs and pinning her against the wall in such a way that she couldn't possibly escape.

The strange human stood before her, looking down at her with emerald eyes that seemed to pierce the very depths of her soul, open her up like a book and lay her entire being bare for his perusal.

"Mirala," he said softly, "I'm going to help."

Mirala swallowed and opened her mouth, but then she was thrust aside by Morinth, who snarled, "Worm! You cannot contain me like this! I am the genetic destiny of the asari! You'll just be another ant that I crush on the way to true power!"

"I think not. And I wasn't talking to you anyway. I was talking to _Mirala_." The name came forth suffused with power, and Morinth felt her grip weaken as Mirala was drawn to the forefront of the Ardat-Yakshi's consciousness.

"Who are you?"

"I am Harry Potter, a friend of your mother's. I'm going to help you."

"My mother? She is here? But… isn't she going to kill us?"

"I won't let that happen. I have several like you on my crew, and all of them are fine now. I can help you, Mirala."

"But… we're a monster."

"There is no _we_," Harry said firmly, "There is _you_. And _you_ are not a monster."

"But Morinth…"

"Will go. You won't have to worry about her anymore."

Morinth screamed in rage and fought, but they paid her no mind, Harry's aura shielding Mirala from her counterpart's twisted influence.

"What do I have to do?"

"Open your mind to me. I'll handle the rest."

Mirala looked into his eyes, and found she believed him. Closing her eyes, she opened her mind.

Harry entered her mind like a storm, Mirala at his side and Morinth held over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, the Ardat-Yakshi personality screaming and thrashing, beating his back with her fists and kicking him in the stomach with her feet, but Harry would not relinquish his grasp on her as he strode onwards.

He moved through her mind, using his experiences purging indoctrination from the batarians to identify where to go. Any darkness or shadow in Mirala's mind was drawn up and dragged away, the memories of the last three hundred years that Mirala had been on the run as Morinth caught in the maelstrom Harry created and blasted off.

Mirala watched as Harry packed all the darkness and negative emotion into a tight bundle and cast it into the deepest reaches of her mind, before he clasped her hand and willed _something_ into existence, a brilliant shimmering cage which clashed down around the bundle even as Morinth managed to free herself and flew up against the bars, screaming and spitting with rage as she found herself trapped forever.

And Mirala felt lighter than she ever had before, freed of the darkness which clung to her mind like a tumour and corrupted her every thought, and she wept with joy as Harry drew her into a comforting embrace.

-LatS-

Samara watched as, rather than Harry simply collapsing dead as she thought would happen, Morinth was suddenly held absolutely rigid, eyes wide with horror and surprise, before she suddenly fell into Harry's arms and cried.

Samara caught the sound of her sobbing, mingled with frantically babbled whimpers of "Thank you", and judged it safe to step forwards.

Harry whispered something to her, and Mirala's head came up, and she truly met her mother's eyes for the first time in three centuries.

"Mother?" she said nervously as Harry helped her to her feet, then she stumbled forwards and reached out.

Samara caught her daughter in her arms and held her tight, tears coursing down both their cheeks as the pair revelled in their reunion.

"Isn't that sweet?" Hermione murmured to Harry as she approached her lover's side.

"Yes," said Harry calmly, "It is."

They turned as Benezia approached with Aethyta, the second matriarch being supported by the younger asari from earlier.

Harry turned and looked her straight in the face, and his eyes widened. Meeting Tonks, returned and seemingly reincarnated, had been a shock; but as he looked straight into the attractive face that had once been Bellatrix Lestrange's, he felt as though the world had dropped out from underneath him.

"Hey human, take a holo; it'll last longer," said Aethyta.

Harry blinked and shook his head, "Sorry, you look like someone I knew a very long time ago."

Aethyta nodded and turned to Benezia, "So Nezzy, this is the human you now work for?"

"I do not work for him, Aethyta. I simply booked passage on his ship and decided I preferred to stay."

"Lady Benezia is excellent company."

Aethyta smirked, "Is that a fact? Well, I've been thinking I need a holiday. What do you think, Seyla?"

The younger asari at her side, who had wavy pink markings across her dark blue skin, nodded, "I was thinking that as well, mother."

"Mother?" said Benezia.

Aethyta chuckled, "Nezzy, this is my daughter Seyla. Her father was a hanar. Sadly he didn't quite match up to all the hype about asari-hanar pairings, but he was good enough to give me my girl here."

"Mother!" groaned the girl, slapping a hand against her forehead and jabbing her mother in the ribs, "I didn't need that mental image!"

Aethyta gave her daughter a teasing look, "When did my own little girl become such a prude?"

"I'm not a prude! I'd just prefer a special connection…"

"If it's all civilized, you're not doing it right."

"Mother, the last person I picked up in here tried to kill me."

Mirala gave the floor a guilty look.

"What about the turian before her? He seemed nice."

"He was in denial. How do humans put it? In the wardrobe?"

"Closet," Hermione corrected without thinking.

"Exactly."

"What about the batarian before him?"

"Her? She was a slaver in disguise."

"How do you know the collar and cuffs weren't for play?"

"When I woke up after the act and caught her making a call about selling me for two hundred thousand credits!"

"Right," Aethyta turned to Harry and shook her head, "Sorry, my little girl has mate troubles." Then she grinned, "Perhaps you'd be interested? I think you'll find that even if she is rather inexperienced, there's always room to learn-"

Seyla's strangled shriek of outrage was drowned out as Jenny and Benezia had to hold on to each other for support and burst out laughing.

"Anyway, let's go."

-LatS-

Back on the _Argenti Cygnus_, they had settled the new arrivals in; Aethyta had bunked with Benezia, Seyla with Liselle and Mirala had been dragged into the Ardat-Yakshi dorm by her eager sisters; and Harry had gone upstairs to discuss Joker's leaving with him, leaving Hermione with little to do except walk around and check on the crew.

"Ah, XO Granger! Excellent timing!"

Hermione smiled; she liked the salarian doctor, and turned to greet him as Mordin hurried up with a datapad in his hand, "Yes, Mordin?"

"Encountered problem. Was helping A.I. with calibrating internal data connections on ship. Discovered suspicious outbound transmission, heavily encrypted. Curiosity paid off, no such encryptions necessary, not even Spectre reports so heavily secured. A.I. helped decrypt. Thought you should see."

"A suspicious transmission? From who?"

"Tela Vasir. Spectre. Not sure of target of communication, but nature of communication… concerning."

"Concerning how?"

"Information on ship, crew makeup. Spying, providing intel. Not a scratch on STG encryptions, however; sloppy work. Could do better asleep." He sniffed, "Disappointing. Expected better of Spectre."

Hermione's face hardened, "Luna?"

The A.I. appeared on a nearby pad, **"Yes, Hermione?"**

"We have a security breach. Summon Harry, lock Vasir's terminal down and shut her in her office. I will go and start things for Harry."

"**Understood," **Luna blinked out of sight and Hermione turned to Mordin.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Doctor."

Mordin smiled, "Kirrahe spoke of Spectre Arterius' actions. Would hate such to occur again. Too good lab and too challenging tasks set to just cast aside. Will speak again, XO Granger." He walked off back to the lab, while Hermione turned towards one of the stairwells up to the second level of the crew deck.

"Open the door," she commanded as she reached it, and as soon as it opened she stepped through the door.

"XO Granger?" said Vasir, looking up from her terminal with a smile, "I think there is a problem… I seem to have somehow been locked out of my terminal in the middle of issuing a report to the Council. The door locked as well. Is there something I should know?"

"Yes," said Hermione coldly, "You're giving information on us to someone who is most certainly not the Council. What I want to know is who."

"There must be some mistake. It was certainly going to the Council…"

"**Wrong,"** said Luna as she popped up on the pad in the corner, **"I know it was not directed to the Council because I'm aware of where you would send such reports. Harry is on his way, and then we will find out the truth."**

Vasir's face hardened this time and she stood, "Hypocrites. You violate the Citadel's laws for your own gain and now you do this when I am simply serving in my own way!"

The door opened and Harry entered, glaring at Vasir, "Explain. Now, Vasir."

Vasir glared and said nothing.

"Fine," Harry clucked his tongue, "Hermione?"

Vasir made to straighten, but then Hermione held up a hand and Vasir found herself pinned to her chair and unable to move, bound tightly by ropes that had come from nowhere and somehow unable to use her own biotics.

Harry moved across and sat down opposite her. "Legilimens!"

Five minutes later, Harry removed himself from Vasir's mind and the Spectre slumped in her chair, insensate.

"Luna? Tell Joker to set course for the Hourglass Nebula, Sowilo system. A new threat has arisen. And bring Joanne; I want to ask her opinion on this information."

"**At once."**

Joanne entered the room less than a minute later with Miranda on her heels. She raised one delicate eyebrow when she saw the Spectre, "Did we have problems?"

"Yes, we did," said Harry, "I need you to make sense of some information for me."

It took a couple of minutes for them to explain, then Joanne clapped her hands together, "The Shadow Broker, it has to be."

At the puzzled looks she received, she explained, "The Shadow Broker is the most influential information broker in the galaxy. He has fingers in every pie from the Viper Nebula to the Shrike Abyssal. It appears our naughty little Spectre," she glanced at the asari, now awake and aware, gagged to stifle her angry curses and glaring balefully at them all, "has been carrying out hits for the Broker. I will see what information I can dig out of the Cerberus network." She left with Miranda in tow.

Hermione frowned at the asari, "Shall we do something about her?"

"We can't kill her," said Harry, "But I'm not chucking her off the ship either; she knows far too much." His smile turned a little predatory and Vasir began to feel a modicum of fear entering her stomach, "At least this one's attractive, eh Hermione?"

Hermione nodded, a similar predatory look crossing her face, "Agreed. The Shepard treatment then?"

"Yes," said Harry. He approached Vasir and caught her chin between forefinger and thumb, tilting her head up and back despite her struggling. She stilled and a hint of fear entered her eyes as she saw a tinge of malice enter his, "Don't worry, Tela… I'll take good care of you."

Vasir whimpered softly behind the gag.

"Legilimens,"

-LatS-

**Some hours later.**

**In orbit over Hagalaz, Sowilo System, Hourglass Nebula.**

"So what's the plan, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking over at Harry from where she stood on the gantry.

The young man was standing by a _Cygnet_, weaving additional spells around the already formidably-enchanted shuttle. "The shuttle needs to be resilient enough to survive the storms. Luna, you should try and get into the ship's systems. Cause havoc."

Luna, standing on a nearby pad as usual, beamed, **"Wrackspurt protocols?"**

"Wrackspurt protocols."

**"Excellent. Beginning my assault now."**

"Hermione, can you help me with these spells?"

"Sure."

The two displaced mages worked in concert to finish their upgrades and start the _Cygnet_ up for launch. As they were getting in and settling down, Harry said, "Luna, update?"

The A.I. appeared a second later and smiled brightly, **"I have managed to infiltrate the ship's systems and am causing mayhem within. I am also siphoning data from the central information hub via at least two hundred and forty data spikes. The Broker is attempting to shut me down but the randomised nature of the Wrackspurt protocols are making it difficult for him. Estimations for absolute control of his systems stand at under five minutes. Will you be boarding immediately or will you wait?"**

"We're going now."

**"Understood. I will herald your arrival." **The A.I. cackled maniacally and vanished.

"I should feel sorry for them," mused Harry.

-LatS-

On the ship, all hell was breaking loose. Power conduits were randomly overloading and frying any troops within range of them, the communication channels were giving out contradictory orders like candy and above all the bedlam every computer screen in the ship showed a similar image.

Two girls, one with black hair and dressed entirely in red and the other with white hair and silver eyes dressed in some kind of uniform, stared down at the pandemonium below and just _giggled_ together.

"**What do you think, Alma?"** said the uniformed girl, **"Shall we play a game?"**

The red-clad girl said nothing, but simply nodded.

"**Yes, let's. Fear us, puny insects, for your death approaches!"**

For a brief second, everything stopped and the troops all looked up at the computer screens as the uniformed girl made an odd hand gesture. Then her next words struck terror into their hearts.

"**Now, we will play our game. I have absolute control of the environmental controls on this ship. I will be venting strategic sections of the ship, according to this map," **the two girls were replaced on the screens by a three-dimensional image of the ship divided into segments, **"I will be giving five minute warnings to you concerning what areas will be vented. You have to get out of those areas before they vent. The winners are the last people left alive. Let the game begin! The first sections to be vented are…"**

In reality, Luna had no intention of killing the troops. The numbers she had gleaned from the Broker's network so far told her that spacing such a valuable asset would be immensely unwise. She wasn't even going to be venting the ship. All that explanation was meant to achieve was give the troops incentive to move while she herded them into areas to keep them out of the way while Harry and Hermione took over the Broker's network.

It was herding sheep raised to an art-form, and it worked perfectly. By the time the _Cygnet_ hovered into a landing bay she opened for it, the troops were all confined to various areas of the ship. The only area she had been even more ruthlessly efficient with was the central information centre and lair of the Broker, where she had simply overloaded the energy reservoir above his seat and reduced him to his component molecules.

Luna then returned to the _Cygnus_, where she popped up on the pad in Joanne's office, **"Joanne, how would you like an expansion to your information network?"**

The redhead looked up, "What sort of expansion?"

"**The Shadow Broker."**

Joanne's eyes went wide and she smiled, "It would be my pleasure. I will need better equipment however to handle all the information feeds."

"**From what I'm seeing through the cameras aboard the ship, you will have it. Now I have to go and lead Harry and Hermione to the operations centre."**

She vanished.

Luna popped up on Harry's omnitool as he and Hermione left the shuttle, **"Excellent, you're here. I will lead you to the operations centre."**

"Very well. Let's move."

-LatS-

"Why is the floor all sticky over here?" Hermione asked as she walked past the desk inside the operations centre.

Luna popped up on a computer console, **"I think that's Broker tissue. I kinda… shocked him until he turned into dust."**

"Ew," Hermione quickly stepped off the sticky patch and cast an _Evanesco_ on her shoes, then on the floor.

"There's a lot here," mused Harry, "Might even be better to put Joanne here rather than on the _Cygnus_."

"Agreed," said Hermione, "Luna, would you care to set that up? See if she wants to bring Miranda or if she wants Miranda to stay on the _Cygnus_."

"**Of course," **the A.I. vanished.

"A lot of people are leaving us, aren't they?" said Hermione softly.

Harry turned to look at her.

"They're our crew. Besides, some of them are only going to another ship. Hell, I've got a feeling we still might run with this new ship a lot of the time."

"You think?"

"Yes. Plus we can always come by to see Joanne any time we want."

Hermione bit her lip and nodded, "Alright. I feel a little better now."

Harry just hugged her.

-LatS-

Whatever Luna said to Joanne seemed sufficient to peak the redhead's interest, as she soon came into the operations centre guided by Luna and immediately began poking around.

Miranda stood quietly beside Harry and Hermione while Joanne looked around, until finally the redhead approached them again, "Yes, I think I can make this work. Now just to decide whether… where do you want to go, Miranda? Do you want to work here with me or remain on the _Cygnus_?"

"I'll stay here. You need me more than they do."

"Alright. Then do you think…?"

Miranda nodded and the two women exchanged a significant look.

"Is something going on I should know about?" Hermione asked.

"Simply we were looking to share Harry as a thank you for freeing us from the Illusive Man and giving us this chance," said Joanne with a sultry look.

Hermione smirked, "Well that sounds like an _attractive_ proposition… but I must insist I get some of the credit."

"Oh of course," said Joanne, swaying towards the brunette and kissing her.

**smut scene redacted; refer to HPFFA for full lemon; link is on profile**

Harry and Hermione boarded the _Argenti Cygnus_ again the next morning, leaving an inanely-smiling Joanne tending to the still-unconscious Miranda, and immediately gave orders for Joker to set course for the relay system.

They needed to go to Purgatory.

-LatS-

Deep in the _Argenti Cygnus_' systems, Luna was fabricating a message.

"_**Let's see, a touch of falsehood, an outright lie, and season liberally with deception… Add a significant cash bonus and… done!"**_

Pleased, she sat back and considered her work. For the convict called Jack, she was offering the prison's warden a sum of several billion credits, which she actually had no intention of paying and would steal back as soon as Jack was in their hands.

Smiling, she sent it off as the _Cygnus_ dropped out of FTL and began cutting towards Purgatory.

As usual, Harry and Hermione took a _Cygnet_ over to the station, settling it in a landing bay while they got out and were soon greeted by a turian in blue and white armour that they both recognized as belonging to the Blue Suns.

"Greetings. Warden Kuril will be along soon to show you inside to pick up your package."

"Thank you," said Harry.

Warden Kuril, as it turned out, was a barefaced turian in Blue Suns armour and what seemed the turian version of a perpetual sneer.

Harry and Hermione stiffened slightly. Their experience with barefaced turians was not good.

"You the buyers?"

"Yes," said Hermione, "Our payment is ready to be sent, but we want what we came for first."

Kuril frowned, "Jack. You realize what you are in for, yes?"

"Possibly. Tell us about her."

"Jack is the meanest bundle of violence and hatred I've ever encountered. She's completely insane and a far more powerful biotic than any I've seen in my life. I hope you have means of controlling her."

"We thought about asking nicely," said Harry sardonically.

Kuril snorted, "That will likely never be enough. But as soon as she is off my prison ship, she is not my responsibility, so I will let you discover the truth for yourself as she turns your ship inside out." His smile was not pleasant.

He led the two humans though to the maximum security wing, mind working furiously the entire way. Some parties had already quoted prices for the successful capture of the _Argenti Cygnus_ and the two super-biotics who captained it, but the price the two humans had quoted to him was one so far beyond what could be considered any kind of normal that he was willing to forgo their bounty to get his hands on that money. The fact that he had an odd feeling each of them could probably tear him to shreds with their biotics just as well as Jack could was another factor.

"This is our maximum security wing," he explained, "We keep Jack in cryogenic stasis."

"Any particular reason?" said Harry.

"Well any cell we put her in gets smashed out of. The only way to keep her imprisoned is to keep her unconscious."

"I see."

Kuril tapped his omnitool, giving the order for Jack to be brought out of cryosleep… slowly.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, "How are we going to persuade her to stay quiet?"

"I figured we'd do what we always do."

"Make it up as we go along?"

"Yup."

-LatS-

"Right, we're ready to bring Jack in. Remember, after she leaves this ship, she's your problem."

"Thank you, Warden. You may go," Hermione said.

At that moment, there was a scuffle from somewhere ahead and a door flew open, a technician rushing out, "Warden! Jack woke up faster than we anticipated, she's coming this way!"

Harry and Hermione moved to the fore as the Warden began speaking into his omnitool. Barely a second later, the doors they were moving towards blasted apart and a bald woman covered in tattoos charged towards them, blue energy almost sheeting off her frame as she bared her teeth at them.

Harry stepped forwards and raised a barrier… but then time almost seemed to halt as the woman's biotics-enhanced punch met his barrier. Harry weathered the blow and inverted the shield, grabbing hold of the woman's arm and twisted, bringing her to the ground in an approximation of a defensive hold he had seen Dudley use and put to work himself on a few people over the years. Her biotics instantly cut out and she was reduced to screaming, squirming and beating his back with her fists ineffectually.

"Calm down!" Harry snapped at her, and suddenly the woman just stopped. She relaxed in his grip and fell quiet, staring back at him with a look of confusion mixed with anger.

"Harry," said Hermione as she approached, "What… was that?"

**(A/N: So yes, this took me a very long time and for that I am sorry, I got stuck on them meeting Jack for the first time and finally was advised to just cut most of what I'd done and use it as the start of the next chapter, so that's what I'm going to do. Next time on Lightning among the Stars: Shepard and Joker say their goodbyes, Harry's odd new powers are explained (somewhat) and we (probably) make the official move into Mass Effect 1! Until next time, readers! Leonineus, OUT!)**


End file.
